


The Summer of - Well, You Know

by needleyecandy



Series: Fated [4]
Category: Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, Blended family, Coming Untouched, Fluff, Humor, Incest Kink, M/M, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rimming, Spanking, harmless lawbreaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:09:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 26,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needleyecandy/pseuds/needleyecandy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New stepbrothers Thor and Loki have a busy summer. Thor's internship is forty hours a week, Loki's getting art commissions and teaching. They also have the house to themselves for a whole month while their parents are away on their honeymoon, and they need to take advantage of it. </p><p>Also, it turns out, being brothers is pretty hot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the perpetual motion machine that is this series! If you're just joining in, this will make more sense if you read the first three parts first.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was a perfect day for driving, Loki thought as he rolled down his window. It would have to go back up once they hit the interstate or his hair would be blown utterly to bits. On the twisting country highway, though, it could hardly be better. Thor hummed happily to himself as he thumbed through Loki's iPod. Loki had made a folder with all his favorite driving albums and magnanimously given Thor free rein to pick from it. He waited until Thor happened to glance over at him before shifting into fifth. 

He would be picking up some hours at the glass store - just enough to pay for the glass he wanted, most likely - until he started his new series of classes in two weeks. They would have been a week sooner, but as that would have meant missing part of the wedding, Karen postponed them. He'd have a decent amount of free time, though. Time to sleep in and play Xbox and read and nap. Thor's internship started on Monday. He had no real break at all, poor guy. Thor seemed completely unfazed by it. Loki hoped that meant he was really fine, and not just pretending. 

Thor had offered to drive, but Loki had declined. "You've got enough driving ahead of you, you should enjoy not having to do it while you have the chance," he said. So here they were, making their way through the wide fields, the corn strong and green around them, the air perfect and the Blaze playing through the slightly tinny speakers. The band was, indeed, doing well, and Loki was starting to watch their memorabilia on ebay to gauge the best time to sell his flyer. 

"My uncle said that when he was little, if the corn was knee-high by the fourth of July, it meant the crop was doing well. Now you want it chest-high," Thor said, looking out over the leafy crops. 

Loki had no idea what he was supposed to say to that. "Oh," he answered weakly. 

Thor laughed and tousled his hair. "Okay, city boy," he said. "What do you want to talk about?" 

"It's fine if you talk about it. I just don't know what to say back." 

They fell back into companionable silence. Thor's hand stayed on Loki's shoulder, idly playing with his hair as he watched the scenery pass by. "You're going to make it curl if you keep doing that," Loki said finally. 

"You know what else is going to make it curl? Summer," Thor teased, but he dropped the lock he was dandling and moved his attention to the soft skin at the base of Loki's neck. 

It gave him a pleasant response between his legs, and he said, "You know you can't do that once we're in traffic." 

"I know. Gotta get it out of my system while I can." 

When they got to the freeway, windows went up and Thor's hand went down - to his own lap, of his own volition and everything - and the engine hummed a little more than Loki would have liked. It eased up once they were at full speed, but it was still worrisome. 

"Would you call my dad and ask him to get me an appointment at the mechanic tomorrow? I'd like to get this looked at before you have to go to work on Monday." 

Thor flipped through the contact lists and hit _Dad._

Loki could just hear the boom of his father's voice answering. 

"Hi, this is Thor, actually... no, no, he's fine. He asked if you could get a mechanic appointment for tomorrow?... It sounds like the cam shaft belt needs to be replaced.... Yeah, if they don't have any time for it, if they'll sell you one, I can do it... okay, thanks... yeah, I'll tell him. Bye." 

Thor hung up and set the phone down. 

"Your dad said to tell you I'm a keeper," he said. 

Loki laughed. "I already knew that," he answered. 

It took them five hours, because they stopped for lunch in Niles. There was a sign for an A &W, and since Odin was still experimenting with homemade root beer, they agreed that it would be best to get the good stuff while they still could. It turned out to be a drive-in that was still used as one, something they'd seen in movies but never actually been to. They got burgers and shakes and root beer floats and it was greasy and sugary and delicious and the car still smelled when they pulled up in the front of the house. 

Odin was in the new living room when they walked in. The former dining room had been converted on the grounds that they always ate in the kitchen anyway. The table was in the garage, waiting to be brought out when they had more guests than could fit around the smaller one in the kitchen. "Welcome home," he said, hugging them both at once. "Both of you. Really. I do want you to make yourself at home here, Thor." He looked nervous. 

Thor laughed. "Don't tell my mom you said that. She told me to be on company manners so that I wouldn't leave my socks everywhere." 

Loki nodded. Thor really did have an amazing talent for strewing socks about. 

"Well, company manners for your socks then. The rest of you should be at home," Odin said, relaxing. 

He took them out to dinner that night, asking both of them lots of questions about the term they'd just finished, hearing all about their new advisors. Loki discreetly omitted the bit about the whiskey. They skipped dessert at the restaurant after Odin said he had a cake at home, picked up that day at a Hungarian bakery that had just opened downtown. 

The cake was airy despite having been soaked in citrusy rum, and it was covered in a thin layer of cherry icing that actually tasted like cherries instead of chemicals and the whole thing was rich enough that what had looked very small, when they opened the box, now seemed like a rather large cake after all. 

"That was really good, Dad. Thanks," Loki said, leaning back in his chair. 

Thor nodded. "Yeah, thank you." He stifled a yawn and immediately looked guilty. "Sorry, it's been a long week." 

Odin raised an eyebrow. "Home, remember?," he said, before suddenly looking stricken. "Not that I'm trying to push it on you. I just want you to feel comfortable." 

Thor smiled. "No, I understand. Thanks." He yawned again. "I do think I'm going to turn in early, though." 

Loki couldn't quite help catching Thor's yawns. "Yeah, I think I'll come with you," he said. Without thinking of the impact of his words on his father. 

"Oh. Yes, okay. Tired, of course. Yes," Odin stammered, blushing. 

"Yeah, tired. Sleep," Loki said. Thor had started blushing immediately after Odin, which made _Loki_ blush too. He looked around. Someone had to be the one to break up this huge circle of awkwardness before they all died. 

"I think I'm going to turn in as well," Odin said swiftly, standing. "Good night." He turned and rushed towards his new bedroom, leaving a trail of _umms_ and _uhs_ in his wake. 

"We're going to have to figure out how to handle this better," Thor whispered when they were alone. 

"He's probably just going to go to bed really early after this," Loki said. 

"Yeah, but I don't think my mom will." 

Loki's treacherous mind conjured up the memory of Frigga pinching his dad's butt. No, she wouldn't avoid it, not when she had the chance to make herself laugh. He shuddered. 

"So, how do you want to do things?" Thor asked carefully as they climbed the stairs. Frigga had sent a moving truck with all of Thor's things, and most of hers, and his furniture was now set up in his new room. It wasn't arranged how he would eventually want, but it was useable. 

It was clear from his voice that by _things_ Thor meant where he was to sleep. He knew Loki liked sleeping with him, but he also knew - almost as well as Loki did himself - how much people-time Loki had had recently, and how little alone-time there had been to balance it out. But their chances to sleep in late together would be very limited this summer, even worse than when they had been at school. 

He took Thor's arm and they went to bed together. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lazy Sunday. For Loki, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Thor woke well before Loki the next morning. The windows in Loki's bedroom were swathed in thick, dark curtains, letting in just enough light to know it was after dawn, but not enough to see anything else. He didn't mind. It was good - so very, very good - to simply lie there. The mattress was comfortable, and the air conditioning was running just enough that the shared warmth between them felt like luxury, and Loki's breath was quiet and even. -Make that quiet and even with a soft little whistle about every tenth exhale, he realized after a minute. It wasn't loud enough to have woken him. It was actually kind of cute, he thought, though he knew better than to tell Loki. 

Best of all, he didn't have to do _anything_. He couldn't even remember the last time he had felt like that. There was absolutely nothing whatsoever he needed to be doing right now. He laid there simply enjoying it for about half an hour. it would have been longer but he had to take a leak. Loki, the man who regularly slept through every alarm clock but his own - who one time might have slept through the dorm's fire alarm, and didn't that still worry Thor - woke up as he slipped from between the sheets. 

"Up time? Coffee?" he mumbled. Thor could hear the soft _pat pat_ of his hand groping the nightstand for a mug that wasn't there. 

"I just have to go pee, baby. I'll bring you coffee if you want, though." 

Loki mumbled something unintelligible. Thor reached for him blindly to stroke his hair. He got his shoulder. Close enough. "I love you," he said. 

"Luh oo," Loki told him. 

From the bathroom ( _their_ bathroom, just like they were used to, and this one was way nicer), he went downstairs, where Odin was just pouring himself a cup, the coffeemaker still making its last crackly sounds. 

"Good morning," Odin said. He glanced behind Thor to see if Loki was with him. Thor saw his gaze and they both were blushing when Thor returned the greeting. 

"Uh... is Loki awake?" Odin asked the floor. 

"I'm not sure," Thor told the ceiling. It was true; Loki had been vaguely awake a minute ago, but that could change quickly. Really, Thor had no idea whatsoever. 

"Ah. I see," Odin answered, still looking down. The kitchen floor had tiles that were designed to look like rough-cut hardwood. Walnut. It looked good, he thought. He had made the right choice in tile. _That's right, just keep thinking about the tile, Odin,_ he told himself. 

"I thought I'd take him up some coffee. Just in case," Thor informed the lights. They were a series of small track lights with warm hammered copper shades. The hammering was pleasantly uneven, giving them a relaxed, handmade feel. He liked them. Maybe when he and Loki had a house of their own, they would have copper lights. Though Loki would want gray slate for the floor, not wood, so maybe they could find a nice hammered steel... 

"I'll make waffles, once everyone's up," Odin offered. 

Thor relaxed. "I love waffles," he said. "Is there any ice cream?" Odin had said to make himself at home. As far as Thor was concerned, that meant asking for ice cream rather than waiting for an offer. 

Odin grinned. "Frigga said to tell you that you're to have at least as much fruit on them as you have ice cream. I got vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries yesterday." 

"I can wake Loki up. I don't mind. Really," Thor said. 

That made Odin chuckle. "Brave man. If you really want to risk it, I'll get the iron heating." 

"I'll go get him." Thor went back upstairs, coffee mug in hand. Odin watched him go. He'd have to get over this awkwardness somehow. They all would. He really was glad that Loki had Thor in his life. The joy on his son's face when he was with Thor - even when he was just talking about Thor - was a precious thing to witness. It was just _really_ weird to acknowledge his little boy was having sex. At least Frigga would be here in a few days. She'd keep him distracted. 

Thor opened the door, the light pouring in from behind him showing that Loki was sprawled on his back, blankets twisted around his legs. He left it standing open and sat down on the side of the bed, setting the coffee down before leaning over to rest his hand on Loki's arm. He'd learned the hard way not to be holding liquids when he did this. 

"Loki, hey. I brought you coffee, and there's waffles cooking." 

Loki snorted violently as he woke and sat up, looking around in a daze. 

Thor ruffled his hair, earning himself a weak swat. "Coffee's right there. You should come down before I eat everything." 

"Mmph." 

"Loki's awake," Thor said as he got back to the kitchen, where Odin was carefully measuring things into a bowl. 

"Did he hit you?" Odin asked. 

"Only once, and not hard." 

Odin nodded. "Not bad." 

By the time the first heaven-scented waffles were coming off the iron, Loki had tidied his hair and staggered downstairs to join them. 

"Ralph didn't have time for your car," Odin said as they ate. "He did agree to sell us the right belt, though." 

Thor finished chewing his (large, but it was so much better than the dining hall, he couldn't really be expected to help himself) bite. "Okay. That'll only take me about an hour. It's easy when you don't have to climb on something to reach the engine, like with tractors." 

"Thanks," Loki said. 

Thor rubbed his foot along Loki's ankle where it was stretched under the table. "You're letting me use your car all summer. The least I can do is help take care of it." 

By the time they'd finished digesting breakfast and taken (separate) showers, it was time for lunch. Odin offered to make them grilled cheese sandwiches, but Loki interrupted before Thor could accept. His father meant well with them, and when he managed to actually pay attention, they came out beautifully, but he tended to get bored and wander off. "You already made us a hot breakfast, dad. Cold sandwiches will be fine." 

Loki and Thor went to the auto body shop to pick up the belt while Odin set to work in the yard. He'd become an industrious weeder, wanting to keep the new landscaping perfect, at least through the wedding. He was still at it when they got back. Loki sat on the front steps drinking a Coke and watching Thor work on his car. It involved a lot of bending over and reaching and stretching and there was no shade so he had taken his shirt off. Even with streaks of engine oil across his torso, Thor looked perfect. Actually, the messy smears were kind of hot. Loki wondered if there were a reliable way to make sure his car needed a new cam shaft belt every few weeks. 

"Enjoying yourself?" Thor asked, looking back over his shoulder. 

"Mmmm," Loki answered. "We really should do this more often." 

Thor laughed as he leaned back over the block. 

Bedtime seemed to creep up on them, and - as Loki had predicted - Odin beat a quick retreat, mumbling something about _early meeting tomorrow_. 

Thor and Loki went to bed not long after. Thor wanted to give himself extra time to get there his first day, in case he got lost. He was quiet as they slid between the sheets. 

"Are you nervous?" Loki asked. 

Thor shrugged. "Kinda, I guess. Yeah." 

"I know how to make you relax." Loki pressed him gently to his back and kissed a slow trail downwards. Thor had forgotten all about his nerves well before Loki reached his destination. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding a routine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That smut I promised around chapter 4-ish? I'm gonna put a little more emphasis on the -ish part of that, in that there's still a wedding to get through before they can enjoy having the house to themselves. 
> 
> Also, the astute reader might notice that I have no clue what goes on at a geology internship. The internet was of minimal help.
> 
> Enjoy!

Thor had set himself two alarms in the hope of not waking Loki. It made more sense than it sounds like. 

The first one was on Thor's phone, set to go off quietly at five til six. As long as that woke him, he could silence the actual alarm clock that sat by the bed before it went off - waking Loki, because it was Loki's clock - at six. 

It worked. Faint music slipped from under his pillow and into his dreams until he swam into consciousness in time to fumble at the second. He slipped out of the room, opening the door just wide enough to fit through so not too much light would get in. He crossed the landing to his room where his clothes were all set out for the day. He hadn't been sure how to dress - he wanted to make a good first in-person impression, but he knew he'd be doing lab work, which didn't go well with nice clothes - and a phone call to Professor Jackson had resulted in what lay before him: his nicest jeans and a button- down. "That should do you for your first day, until you can see what everyone else there has on. One of my friends from grad school is there and I can promise you he'll be in worse jeans than yours," she'd told him. 

He did a quick double check that everything was there before ambling to the shower. The water pressure was glorious and it was more than a little hard to force himself out. He did, though, and dried and dressed without really being aware of any of it. There was one last thing to do, and then he hurried downstairs for breakfast. 

Odin got to the kitchen just as Thor did. He didn't look behind Thor today, knowing perfectly well that he would be alone. It was way too early for his son to be up if he didn't have to be. "I'll start coffee, you start toast?" he suggested. 

Thor smiled. It wasn't that much different from summer mornings in Ashton, when he and Bragi and Frigga got breakfast together. Different place, different people, but the familiar routine made him relax a little. It wasn't until then that he realized he was tense. "How dark do you like it?" he asked. 

Odin shrugged. "I don't care. I don't really like toast, but it's easy," he said. 

Thor laughed. "We'll call that medium." 

They talked aimlessly as they ate, until Thor glanced at the clock and realized he needed to hurry. "You've got my number in case there's car problems, right?" Odin asked as he put their plates in the dishwasher. 

"I do, yeah," Thor said. "Thanks." 

Thor jingled the keys in his pocket as he walked down to the street where Loki's car waited. He'd done a little extra tuning up yesterday, and was looking forward to an extra smooth ride. He hadn't planned on doing quite so much under the hood, but Loki's eyes had been _all_ over his ass and he'd had no particular desire to stand up while that was happening. He had to admit, he loved how Loki still ogled him just as much as when they'd first hooked up. So good to still be desired by someone who met him want for want... 

...he shook his head. That was for thinking about when he wasn't driving on unfamiliar roads and on his first day at work. 

The drive was nice. It was a lot more time than he was used to spending in a car, but if he had to, there were a lot of worse drives he could have been on. This was largely on the interstate, and he left early enough to miss most of the Beuley traffic. The last ten minutes were on a small country road that served as both shortcut and scenery. The corn was already taller, it seemed, and it glowed a rich deep green. 

Almost before he knew it, he was pulling into the parking lot. He took a deep breath and went inside. 

***** 

Loki woke after everyone had left. He had the house all to himself for hours and he was going to enjoy every second. The first thing to do was to put on music in his bedroom loud enough to hear it downstairs and in the shower. Coffee (reheated from earlier, but that was fine) followed, and then a shower twice as long and half as hot as the one Thor would had taken. 

It was when he got out of the shower that he saw the note Thor had left him. Where the steam had condensed on the mirror, he could see that Thor had drawn a heart with a smiley face inside it. "What a dork," he said to himself, smiling at his blurry reflection. 

There were a few finishing touches to put on the large window he'd done as a wedding present, so after eating he set to work, not stopping until it was time to go catch the bus. He was lucky that a line ran from a block away from their house and dropped off only two blocks from the store. At two in the afternoon, it didn't have many people on it, and he settled in to read. 

It took a little time to get acquainted with the store rearranging that had been done in his absence, but otherwise his shift was pretty much identical to every other shift he'd had there, outside of teaching. Cutting and selling glass, helping people pick out tools, making pattern suggestions. It kept him busy right up to closing time and just as he was about to lock the door, he glanced up from the day's ledger and Thor was there. "Hi, baby," he said. 

Thor had actually been watching Loki for about five minutes. He looked so focused and lovely as he held up two sheets of blue glass, talking with a customer about each of them. Thor hoped it wasn't creepy to watch things like that, because it was such a pleasure to see him in his element. 

"Hi!" Loki said happily. "How was your first day?" 

"It was good. Everyone is really nice." 

Loki was pleased to hear it, and he ushered Thor in to talk to him while he locked the door and took care of the register. 

"So, the guy I'm working for is named Larry, and he spent the day giving us all a tour of the building, and took us all out to lunch, and then in the afternoon he talked about the projects they have and divided them up. I got my top pick," he said happily. 

"That's great," Loki said, smiling at him. "What are you doing?" 

"I'm going to be analyzing the raw data from an instrument that tracks-" 

That was as far as Loki got before his mind drifted. He meant well, he really did, and he wanted to be supportive, but it was like Thor had suddenly started speaking Russian. But Thor looked happy, so he smiled and nodded as the job description wound on and on. They were halfway down the block to where he'd left the car when he finally finished. 

"Wow," Loki said. 

Thor laughed. "You didn't follow any of that, did you?" he asked. 

"I got that you're excited about what you're doing," he said. 

It was hot out, but neither of them cared about that as Thor slipped his hand into Loki's. 

The week passed quickly, all three of them finding their new routine easy to settle into. Friday came before they knew it. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving and Wedding Eve and Wedding Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something happens in here that may seem pretty implausible, but I assure you, having based Thor's family on one branch of my own, that it is quite accurate for at least my part of the rural Midwest. 
> 
> And if you share Loki's feelings (which you probably will, since I assume if you didn't like Thor you wouldn't bother reading), just remember the chapter is not the end of the event...
> 
> Enjoy!

Frigga got up with Bragi and Freyr for their last breakfast together. She decided to cook everything - eggs benedict, nutella crepes, bacon that was just the perfect amount of crispy and chewy - partly to be nice and partly so they wouldn't see how she kept tearing up. She loved Odin and was so happy to be marrying him and excited about beginning their new life together. She'd spent her entire life in Ashton, though, except for when she was away at college, and moving even a few hours away was a big thing. Her friends were here, and her memories, many sad, yes, but many many happy as well. She would be back to visit and to plant flowers in the family plot, but it wouldn't be the same. 

The moving truck waited for her outside, ready for her last few boxes. They carried them out together before she showered. Even though it was still early, and not anywhere near the heat that was to come, the morning fog always felt muggy to her, and she didn't want to feel it clinging to her skin for the whole drive. By the time she was dried and dressed, the crepe pan had cooled and there were no more reasons to delay. So she brushed her hands of sadness and hugged her brother and her stupid nephew and drove away. 

Odin had decided to go to work on Friday, even though he was getting married the next day, because he was already horrifically nervous and figured that he may as well make himself useful and try to keep his mind off the million and one problems he couldn't stop imagining. Anyway, he wasn't expecting Frigga until that evening. So he was just getting ready to go to the break room for lunch (he and Nal both liked having lunch with their employees. They had hired good, smart people to work for them, and sometimes problems came out more easily over a sandwich than over a meeting table) when he got a text that gave him a surge of warmth. He turned back and grabbed his car keys. 

_Hi, honey. I'm home._

So was Loki, it turned out, when he got there. Much as he loved his son, he dearly wished he would go away right now, but he could hardly say it. He just wanted to stare at her and think about the fact that at this time tomorrow, she'd be putting on a dress, he'd be putting on a suit, and she would look so beautiful and she would say that he looked so handsome and she would mean it even though he had a patch in place of an eye. Loki did not go away, but he did the next best thing. Or better. Odin wasn't sure. 

"Hey, why don't you two go out to lunch? I have time to unload the truck before I have to leave for work," Loki offered. 

Odin reminded himself to buy Loki an extra present on their honeymoon. 

Frigga beamed at him. "Thank you, Loki, that's very sweet of you. Let's get my car unhitched and I'll give you my keys so you don't have to take the bus. You'll want some extra time in the air conditioning when you're done carrying everything," she said. 

"I won't argue," he said. 

***** 

Frigga didn't have that many boxes, since she'd already moved some of her things when she'd made the run with Thor's stuff. He was finished and showered before they got back. That was good, because his dad kept staring at him with his eye all bugged out and then jerking his head towards the door. He decided it was best to leave without thinking too much about it. 

"Well, um... I think I'm going to go to work," he said lamely. 

"I thought you didn't have to be there until three?" Frigga asked. 

Loki looked at Odin in a panic. 

"Never hurts to be a little early," Odin said. 

"Yeah. You know. Traffic," Loki mumbled, grabbing his backpack and plucking the keys off her outstretched fingers. 

At least she had the courtesy to wait until the door closed behind him before she started laughing, even if he could still hear it. Thor was right. She wasn't going to make it easy, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. 

***** 

Thor got a text from Loki, telling him that he didn't need a ride, but that he really should call before he went into the house. Thor decided it was best not to ask why and did as he was told. 

When he got home, Frigga and Odin were sitting on the sofa watching tv and eating potato chips. He couldn't remember when he'd seen her looking so relaxed. "What happened to 'no eating before dinner?''" he asked. 

"Picnic reception. This is the rehearsal dinner," she answered, holding the bag out. 

He took a handful and sat down. They were in the middle of a game show, and once he'd taken his chair they got back to making fun of the host's tie. 

Rehearsal chips aside, they went out for dinner once Loki got home, to a relaxed southern Italian place just a couple blocks away. The worst of the heat had gone for the day, and they decided to walk. Odin and Frigga went first, hand-in-hand, and Loki and Thor followed the same way. 

Maybe they shouldn't have, Loki thought, as Giorgio took one look at them as they walked in and plopped a candle and a vase of roses in the middle of their table. Like it was romantic. Like they were on a double date. Which Loki guessed they technically were, and really that just made it weirder. But at least the food was good, and their parents let them have a little of the red wine that simply appeared shortly after the candle. 

Thor had also been right about Frigga not taking any pity on any of them when it was time to go to bed. "I think I'm going to turn in," Odin said, yawning. 

"It's eight forty-five," Frigga said, glancing at the clock. 

"Yes, well, we have a big day tomorrow. I want to rest up," he said, blushing. 

" _Oh._ I see. You do know they're going to sleep together whether or not you watch them go up the stairs, right?" she pointed out. 

"Um, actually, I'm going to bed now too," Thor said. He made a beeline for the stairs and abandoned Loki who was going to have to think up something really good before this could be considered _made up for._

"I'm tired, too," Loki mumbled before following. For the second time that day, her laughter followed him. Somehow, he didn't mind. She had a nice laugh. Like she was inviting them all to laugh with her. 

***** 

Odin ended up taking some random cold medicine around eleven in the hopes of falling asleep. He'd be a little groggy in the morning, but it should be worn off by the time the guests arrived. Frigga had already been sleeping the sleep of the blessed for over an hour. 

He was right, just barely. Frigga had taken over Thor's room to change ("I wasn't nervous until I watched you being nervous," she had told Odin) and Odin had finally gotten his tie just the way he wanted when there was the first knock on the door. It was Lena, who was going to stand with Frigga, along with Henry and Freyr. Odin showed Lena where to find Frigga and led Henry and Freyr outside. Nal was just minutes behind them, ready to stand with Odin. 

There were some chairs scattered around the yard for people who needed to sit, but they had agreed, since neither of them knew more than a few people from the other one's side, it would be better to have everyone mingling rather than do the traditional seating. 

Odin was sweating like crazy by the time the justice took his arm and steered him into position. He was so happy he thought he might throw up. It was a strange sensation, but there it was. And then the DJ started the music, and Thor and Loki were walking through the crowd, touching elbows and speaking quietly until there was a makeshift aisle, and there was Lena, smiling at him as she approached... 

… and then Frigga was there, and he forgot everything else. She wore a blue dress with embroidered designs all over it, and on someone else it might have looked like a costume but she wore it like a queen. Her eyes sparkled at him and he did what the justice told him and then they were married and everyone was crowding around them talking at once and he had not thrown up and they were married. 

There was dancing while the caterers brought the food out, and everyone stepped back to give them room as they started to dance. Their first dance had briefly been a rare point of contention between them, as Odin's heart was set on a waltz and Frigga's was equally set on New Order's _Sixty Miles an Hour,_ until the DJ pointed out that in her experience, most people at weddings couldn't dance to the beat anyway and so they might as well both have what they wanted. It turned out to be silly and awkward and perfect. 

***** 

Thor and Loki stood together through the ceremony, fingertips brushing lightly. It was good, as far as weddings went, which as far as they were concerned meant that it was between people who were good for each other, and that it was short. 

After their parents had danced alone for a suitable amount of time, Thor took Loki's hand. "May I have the honor?" he asked, grinning. 

"Only if you don't get all mushy about it," Loki said, but his smile was nearly as wide. 

Other couples followed them until the garden was filled with people twirling through it, the women's colorful dresses accented by the men's somber suits. Lena had dragged Henry into it, and a laughing Alice was managing to lead an awkward Freyr through a rough approximation of a dance. 

It took about half an hour to set up the food. When the caterers were done, the music was lowered to allow easier conversation as people ate. It was an unusual order of events, but having the reception and wedding in one place necessitated a few alterations to the norm. The garden was radiantly beautiful, though, and the weather was lovely, and since all their parents really wanted was a good day with loved ones they had gotten exactly what they wanted. Also, they had to leave at five sharp for the airport and Thor looked really good in his suit and Loki just wanted everyone else to go away. 

They stood near the back of the garden, letting the guests go ahead of them through the line. Thor’s back was to the crowd, so he didn’t know what was coming until he saw Loki go tense. 

“What?” he asked. 

Loki pointed and Thor turned to see his cousin approaching them. 

"Hey," Bragi said nervously. 

"Hey," Thor answered. 

"Corn looks good this year." 

"It's been good weather for it." 

"Yeah." 

Thor shifted slightly to include Loki in the conversation. Loki’s jaw was hanging slightly open. He clearly didn’t understand. "Corn likes it humid, but it doesn't like to have its feet wet," Thor explained. 

"Yeah, well. I'm going to get some food." 

"Yep." 

Bragi wandered away towards the long table to get in line. Loki stared at Thor. "What was that? He didn't even apologize!" he said. 

Thor frowned in confusion. "Of course he did. You were right there." 

"No, he just said 'hey' and started talking about corn." 

"Oh. Yeah, that's how it is at home. In Ashton," he clarified. 

"Mannerless?" 

"It's just tacky to talk about your feelings." 

Loki shook his head. "I don't get it." 

Thor smiled and brushed back a lock of Loki's hair that had escaped his tidy ponytail. "You don't have to." 

They had barely gotten to fill their plates before it was time to cut the cake. “Sorry, everyone, we’re on a schedule and we don’t want to choose between our flight and our cake,” Odin said. The first two weeks of the honeymoon were to be spent on a slow cruise through the Greek islands, which was sailing six hours after their plane landed. Everyone understood the need for keeping to schedule. It didn’t look like a wedding cake beyond a few little flourishes, but the thick layers of bourbon-soaked chocolate cake with dark creamy chocolate ganache tasted far better than wedding cakes usually do. 

The caterer was handing out small slices to make sure everyone got enough. Thor was pleased to see it; he and Loki got the leftovers to themselves, except for one piece destined for the freezer. His was gone in three bites and then he joined the little kids in raiding the cooler that rested in the grass at the end of the table. His mother met his eyes as he took a long lick of his rocket pop. 

Odin and Frigga slipped inside to change into their travel clothes and pick up their bags, and before anyone knew it the cab was there to take them to the airport. They waved at everyone and hugged their sons, warning them that the house had better be there and intact when they returned, and then they were gone. 


	5. Loki Gets All Kinds of Satisfaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much what the title says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really going back to using chapter titles since I usually spend a ton of time thinking them up when I could be thinking up stories, but this one was so obvious. 
> 
> Also, to give credit where it's due- I've had this mostly done for ages and couldn't think of a good way to give it something extra special for the end of the porn scene (because this one deserved something extra special), and then I was rereading some of Hermaline75's delightful stories and thought, "ah yes, that would be fun," and here we are. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Loki found himself again deep in conversation with Alice. He'd liked her when they met at Thanksgiving, and he had been glad to hear that she would be attending. The masses of people weren't so bad when he could stand in a corner with someone interesting and pretend the rest of them weren't really there. 

"Alice? We need to get home before dark, one of my headlights is busted," Andy said. "Sorry to interrupt," he added to Loki. 

"That's okay, you don't want to get a ticket," Loki said. "I'll walk you out." 

They briefly interrupted Thor as he chatted with Nal, who had taken enough geology in college to understand what Thor was working on. Thor hugged Alice goodbye and punched Andy's and Bragi's shoulders. 

Loki started feeling nervous as they walked out to the truck. He was about the same height as Bragi, but had nowhere near the mass. He made a mental note to send Natasha a thank-you text. When they reached the truck, he smiled at Alice and Andy before turning to Bragi and startling himself with the strength in his uppercut. The next thing he knew, Bragi lay on the grass, rubbing his jaw and blinking dazedly. 

"Don't you _ever_ hurt him again," Loki hissed. He looked up to Alice and Andy, who were beaming at him. "It really was nice to see you both. I know Thor was glad, too," he told them sweetly. 

Bragi pushed himself to his feet and took a step towards Loki. Alice caught his arm. 

"Hey, man. You were asking for it," she told him. 

He went tense for a moment, as though he might pull away from her, before relaxing. He got into the truck without a word. 

Alice gave Loki a hug and Andy punched him on the arm. No one had ever done that to him before. He punched back awkwardly. "It's how we hug," Andy explained. "You'll get used to it." 

***** 

At long last, the few straggling guests left the house, and Thor and Loki were alone for a whole month. They waved happily as the last car pulled away from the curb, and stepped inside. Thor pulled Loki close to kiss him, but Loki ducked away. "I'm sweating like crazy in this thing. I have to get out of it, I'm disgusting," he said. 

He tossed his jacket over the coat rack by the door and headed for the stairs, dropping his tie and his shirt as he went. Thor followed him, watching the long smooth lines of his back shifting with each step. When Loki closed the bathroom door behind himself, Thor was more than a little disappointed, but he went to the bedroom to undress and wait. 

Loki pulled off his shoes and socks and stood before the sink in just his pants, soaking a washcloth in cold water and running it across his face and chest, trying to shed some of the heat that had built up from his too-heavy jacket and a little too much champagne. He watched his reflection slowly go from flushed red back to his normal color. It gave him some time to think, after the rush of the last couple of days. Their sex recently (the past few months, really) had tended to be sweet. Gentle, affectionate lovemaking that left them feeling dreamy and peaceful. Loki had liked it - he really had, it was just right for letting go of all the stress that hung so constantly over them both - but now it was time for something different. 

A smile crept over the lips of his reflection, taut and hungry, as he decided what it was he wanted to do. When he finally felt cooled down, he opened the door and crossed to the bedroom, where he found Thor wearing nothing but his own far more open smile, his erection jutting proudly towards Loki. 

He entered the room and prowled around Thor, stopping behind him to purr in his ear. "Look at you, Thor. So _hard_ for your _own brother_. It's _filthy_ of you. So the only question is, do I drag you into the shower and try to clean you up, or do I make you even dirtier?" 

Thor's breath shuddered as he pressed back against Loki, his skin hot against Loki's cool chest. Loki was just as hard as Thor was, but he didn't say anything. That wasn't how this game was played. "Dirtier," he breathed. 

Loki nipped the side of Thor's neck. "I thought you'd say that," he said. "Kitchen. Now." He slipped a bottle into his pocket and followed, eyes drinking in the sight before him. 

Thor shivered with anticipation as he went back downstairs, his skin prickling at the sound of Loki's soft footfall behind him. 

"On the table, on your back," Loki ordered as they crossed from wood floor to tile. Thor quickly cleared the table off and did as Loki said. Loki, meanwhile, was peering into the fridge, pulling out an assortment of things left from the sundae bar. Chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, canned whipped cream, cherries. He turned back to look at Thor and kicked the door shut. The table wasn't long enough to take all of Thor's height, so he had stretched out as far as he could on it while his feet rested on a chair. Loki smiled. So nearly perfect. He dragged a second chair over and moved one of Thor's feet to it, then slid them far enough apart that he could stand between them. He watched Thor's chest heave as he loomed over him. 

There. _That_ was perfect. 

He ghosted his fingers over the head of Thor's cock. It was already gilded with slickness and Loki smeared it until everything shone. Thor kept making the most delicious little pleading sounds every time Loki’s fingers _just happened_ to dip ever-so-slightly into the dripping slit. "No shame at all," he tutted. "Desperate for your own brother's body. Well then, I guess the only thing to do is to give you what you need." 

Loki picked up the syrup bottles and met Thor’s gaze. It was laden with burning hunger, a searing intensity that made all of Loki’s plans for further teasing disappear as quickly as dry ice. Thor gasped as the coldness dripped across his chest. Loki squeezed dollops of whipped cream onto each nipple and perched a cherry on top of each one. 

"So sticky and delicious, and all mine," Loki whispered, lowering his mouth. He licked at the thin lines of chocolate that streaked across his golden skin before taking a mouthful of cherry and cream, letting his lips work against Thor's skin as he melted the cream against his tongue. It was all so sweet and dizzyingly rich, and the champagne was still making his head feel a little bit floaty, just pleasantly so. He gave the nipple an affectionate bite and Thor arched his back with a gasp, his cock bobbing hungrily against his stomach. A soft, hungry sound escaped him as Loki licked his way across to the second cherry. 

When Thor's chest was covered in broad smears of chocolate, Loki moved lower, his breath teasing at Thor's cock. Thor made a sound of desperation as his hips bucked upwards, his body driven by need. He watched from beneath iron-heavy lids as Loki's lips drew closer, closer... and then Loki stopped and looked up at him. Thor felt a jolt of electricity shock through him as their eyes met and Loki's mouth slowly curled in a deliciously wicked smile before he picked up the can of whipped cream and drew a long stripe right up his shaft. 

The cold was shocking (and he might have wilted just a little) but Loki was still giving him that same electric smile that promised... _something_ , something he knew he wanted, and he was already recovering from the cold when Loki's tongue made a single pass through, across his skin, wasting no time cleaning him up before the whipped cream melted. "So sweet," Loki murmured, and Thor knew he didn't mean the sugary mess that covered him. Loki gave himself a moment to devour the sight - the traces of sticky syrup across Thor's skin, the smears of whiteness - before he sank to his knees. 

Thor felt that same tense energy keep buzzing through him, just from Loki's smile and the promise of Loki's tongue, and his balls were already pressing up tight against him, leaving everything exposed to Loki's gaze. He jumped slightly when Loki's hands came up to spread him open. The contrast between them was heady; one was as hot as Thor's own skin despite his cool shower, while the other was sharply cold from the metal can. 

Thor was shaking beneath his fingers, his entrance puckered and tight and it fluttered as Loki's breath ghosted across it. He watched far longer than he needed to, letting Thor wonder and want, before leaning forwards and lapping gently. Thor made a sound that was soft and desperate and so fucking _delicious_ that he couldn't help turning to sink his teeth into one tempting cheek, hollowing his cheeks as he sucked the skin into his mouth until he was sure it would be the most gorgeous purple tomorrow. 

Keeping his pants on while he had Thor naked and trembling had been a calculated decision, one meant to keep him firmly in control, but it was also keeping his cock firmly constricted. He opened them with one hand to ease it, his breath catching slightly as his thumb brushed across the head. He was achingly hard, a damp patch spreading across his underwear, and he gave it another flick as he thought of how it was going to feel when he at last slid inside. 

Thor moaned as Loki licked him open, fighting against himself to stay still when really he wanted to press downwards and feel that deliciously wicked tongue slide in as far as it could go, and he also really wanted to rise to his feet and bury his cock between his teasing lips and spill straight down his throat. Most of all, though, he was wanting, desperately wanting, to take whatever it was Loki was planning to give him, so he scrabbled his fingers against the slippery table top and moaned and gasped and begged as he was carefully opened by a pointed tongue and slippery fingers. He forgot how to breathe as he heard the sound of the cherry jar being opened. 

The next thing he felt were Loki's fingers pressing one last cherry to nestle halfway inside. "There," Loki said, sounding pleased. "Your incest cherry." 

He stood and surveyed Thor, who was already looking wrecked, and pictured how he would look by the time Loki was done fucking him. He would be utterly destroyed, perhaps not even able to walk to the shower without Loki helping him up the stairs, all trembling legs and unsteady steps. 

"Please, Loki," Thor groaned. 

Loki grinned and pressed the tip of his cock against Thor's entrance, careful not to dislodge the shining red cherry. That was meant to go in as well. "Hmm? You want this? If you want me to fuck you, you have to ask me. Say _fuck me, brother._ " 

Thor stared into Loki's eyes. "Fuck me, brother," he growled, watching the surge of lust on Loki's face at his words and feeling his own rising to match. 

"Again," Loki ordered, pressing in with heady slowness, stopping when the head was only halfway in, feeling the tight rim clenching at him and trying to pull him fully inside. 

"Fuck me, brother." 

"Again." 

Loki kept demanding it, and Thor kept responding, until Loki was buried fully, his cock almost impossibly deep. Loki rested one hand on the side of the table, panting raggedly. "So. Do you think I broke your cherry?" he asked. Thor's head fell back to the table with something between laughter and a groan. 

"Well? Aren't you going to ask for what you want?" Loki prompted. His eyes shone as he stared down at Thor. The remains of his dessert were melting into the sheen of sweat that had broken across Thor's skin. Well, he had promised _dirtier._

Loki could nearly have come from the sound of Thor's voice as he sobbed, _please, fuck me, brother, please._ He pulled back and buried himself again, still leaning on the table, not quite trusting his legs as they started to go weak with lust. 

Thor had some freedom of movement, with the chairs under his feet, though it was becoming difficult to do anything besides writhe and moan with the waves of intensity rushing through him. Still, he managed to plant his feet firmly and the next time Loki drove into him he thrust his hips upwards to meet it, clenching tighter at the same time. Loki's response was quiet, as it nearly always was, but the sound was very much like heaven. Thor squeezed tighter. 

Loki fucked Thor hard, harder than he had in a long time, and found himself getting close faster than he wanted. He pulled out to give himself a chance to catch his breath and let his arousal calm down. He looked down at Thor. His hips were still jerking slightly, eager to be retaken. Loki grinned raggedly and cupped his hands under Thor's thighs and folded them back over his chest. 

Thor stared at Loki a moment from between his knees before his head fell back helplessly. "Yes, fuck Loki, yes," he hissed as Loki at last drove back inside him. Loki had positioned him perfectly to have to simply lay there and take whatever Loki felt like giving him. And Loki felt like giving him _everything,_ making him moan helplessly at the dizzying glide through his passage. 

"Look at you, Thor," Loki panted. "Spread out, a mess, getting utterly wrecked by your own brother's cock, and _you love every second of it._ " 

Thor met his gaze. Loki's eyes were glazed and glittering, his jaw slack with his rough breathing, his perfectly straightened hair was a mess of sweaty curls and his chest was flushed with his closeness. Thor reached for his cock, wanting them to come together, but Loki slapped away his hand. 

"I want you to come just from this. I think you can. I think you can come just from getting fucked by your brother," he said. His voice was somehow both rough and breathy and Thor thought, _yes, if you want it this much, I can do it._

The short interruption had given Loki a little more control over himself, and he bent his knees, just a little, just enough to aim his thrusts _up_ as well as in. The first time he ran the head of his cock across his target, Thor _howled_. It took some shifting before he was able to hit it just right on each pass, but he soon had Thor writhing bonelessly and thrashing his head and Loki's name a litany upon his lips. 

Loki felt so fucking good inside him, every pass urging him closer and closer, but even so, he was beginning to worry that perhaps he couldn't come from this, after all, when one particular thrust - he couldn't even say what made it different from any other - set him off. It was sharp and so abrupt that he was sobbing and begging and spilling almost before he knew his climax was upon him. It felt different, somehow, coming without his cock being involved. It felt like it was happening everywhere in him, and it left him trembling, his legs moving helplessly as he gasped and shook his way through. 

When he came down, everything was tingling and Loki was half-draped across the backs of his thighs, chasing his own pleasure now. Thor still felt a little dazed, but he managed to focus enough to clench Loki's cock tighter, smiling lazily as Loki swore under his breath. It only took two more thrusts after that before Loki was collapsed on top of him, his jaw clenched as he froze, buried as deep as he could go and emptied himself into Thor. 

Thor closed his eyes in lazy bliss. He would simply never get used to the feel of Loki filling him. He never wanted to get used to it. He wanted it to feel this perfect every time for the rest of their lives. There was something so intimate about it, more intimate by far than fucking. To have something of Loki's to keep inside him... it was impossible to think of anything more perfect. 

When Loki finished, he straightened just long enough to let Thor lower his legs before he collapsed across his strong torso. "Oh my god, now I'm as messy as you," he mumbled into Thor's neck. 

Thor wrapped his arms around Loki's back. 

"Perfect," Thor said. 

***** 

"Pervert," Thor said in the shower, wrapping his arms around Loki's chest and pulling him close as they stood beneath the warm spray. 

Loki dropped his head back on Thor's shoulder and kissed his jaw. "You love it," he answered. 

"God, yes. Don't ever change." 

Loki was halfway through rinsing his conditioner when Thor started laughing. _Hard._ Leaning-against-the-wall, struggling-for-air laughing. 

"What?" Loki asked. 

"Spring break," Thor gasped. "Bragi asked me if I'd ever checked him out, and I was all, 'God no, that's disgusting, we're family.'" 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some happy days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Loki burst into laughter, laughing almost as hard as Thor. 

Thor was in a good mood - he was _very_ well fucked (if Loki did say so himself), and he was laughing so much he could barely stand - so this was probably as good a time as any to fess up. 

"Speaking of Bragi..." he started. 

"Yeah?" Thor asked. 

"Um... I punched him. Pretty hard, I knocked him down." 

"You hit my cousin?" Thor said. His eyes bulged out a little bit and Loki wondered if maybe he should have gotten Thor tipsy before telling him. "Why?" 

"Are you serious? He hurt you, I saw how much he hurt you," Loki told him. 

"Yeah, but he felt bad later. He wanted to make up. You don't talk about corn with just anybody," Thor said. 

"Maybe you accept that as an apology. I don't," Loki said stiffly. 

"Oh- _oh,_ baby, come here," Thor said, pulling Loki back into his arms. "I love you too." 

***** 

They decided to go out for a late dinner, despite the leftovers that crowded the fridge. They'd be working on those for days, and they both felt like celebrating having the place to themselves for a month. By leaving it. It didn't make any sense, and they knew it, but pizza sounded really good. 

They got the house special, stuffed pizza with spinach and mushrooms mixed into the thick layer of cheese that filled the middle and oozed out with every cut. It was decadent and delicious and it was also heavy as fuck in their stomachs so that when they got home they took one look at the table and flipped off the kitchen light and went to bed. 

"The elves didn't come," Thor said the next morning as he set down a mug of coffee for Loki. 

"What?" Loki mumbled. 

"The lazy elves. They can show up and make shoes all night, but they can't clean up a stupid table," Thor explained. 

"Oh," Loki answered. The fairy tale. It would have been nice if elves had cleaned up before they had to do it. At least there was a lot of leftover cake to fuel them. It ended up taking a fair amount of scraping as well as washing and they agreed that the next time they played with syrups in a manner that was even the least bit sexual it would happen in the shower. 

"Worth it, though," Thor said. 

"Oh, totally worth it," Loki agreed. "Just to know that you can come on your brother's cock-" he cut himself off as he swooped down to kiss Thor, who was leaning down and scrubbing. 

It didn't take long for them to settle into a new routine. They would look through some easy recipes and pick out what they wanted to have for dinner each night. Loki would do the chopping and prep work while Thor was at his job, before he had to leave for the glass store. Thor was driving Frigga's car while she was away, so he would get home over an hour before Loki and do the cooking. Loki would arrive just as their meal was ready, and they would eat and talk about their day. When they were done, Thor would pack the leftovers into lunches for the next day while Loki washed up. 

It was an efficient, practical system that left them the maximum amount of free time for sex. It was awesome. 

***** 

Loki didn't work every day that Thor did, of course. He taught on Wednesday and Friday evenings, and he worked the store a couple more afternoon-evening shifts, always on Tuesdays, sometimes Mondays or weekends. The days that he stayed home, he had dinner ready for Thor. 

Usually. 

On Thursday, Thor let himself in, like always. Loki's car was out front, so he had to be home, but he didn't react to the sound of the door. Thor saw why when he got further in. Loki was on the worn leather sofa, slouching down into the cushions and reading a pale paperback. His legs were sprawled wide and his eyes were open nearly as far. 

Thor was halfway across the room when Loki noticed him. He didn't put his book down, but his eyes glittered at Thor over the top as he approached. "Hi," Thor said, coming to stand between his knees. 

"Hi," Loki said, finally setting his book down, open to his page. He leaned forward and rested his cheek against Thor's stomach. 

Thor looked down at the spine of the book as he ran his fingers through Loki's hair. "Hamlet? You know it's the middle of summer break, right?" he teased. 

Loki turned his head to look up at Thor, his chin pressed right against his belly button. "There's a new movie coming out. I want to reread it first." 

"Mmm, I see," Thor said. He ran his fingers over Loki's face, tracing across his smooth brow, down his nose, along his eyelids and through the hollows of his cheekbones. 

Loki tugged on the hem of his shirt. "Come down here," he said. 

Thor knelt, wrapping his arms around Loki's waist. "It's nice down here," he said. 

"Yeah?" 

"I like the view," Thor explained, leaning closer. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of the honeymoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was just going to have the boys get a postcard from their parents, but it went long enough that it couldn't have fit on a card. So here we go to Greece.
> 
> Enjoy!

Odin had been right. That day months ago, when he had brought all those horrible wedding portfolios to Greenrock and Frigga had laughed herself silly, and he had told her, "I think I'm going to like being married to you," he had been right. He liked it very much. 

Even the time-crunched transfer at the airport, where customs seemed to take twice as long as there was any possible reason, and when they both felt kind of gross after ten hours of stale airplane air, wasn't too bad. And once they got to the cruise ship and had gotten to take long refreshing showers, both were awake and cheerful for the champagne toast to celebrate as they pulled away from the dock. 

They had a table next to the window, and dinner came with a view of the sun setting over the receding Athenian coast. By dessert, jetlag was catching up with them. Even being too tired for _it_ had its own charm, when she was too tired with him. It was good to fall asleep together, holding hands. Anyway, they wouldn't be so tired in the morning. 

Their cabin was small but pleasant, with a queen bed that took up most of the room, and a small white wicker dresser and table set completed the furnishings. A few simple watercolors hung on the walls, adding enough color for interest without distraction. Just enough low purple light filtered through the curtains to see each other's faces as they drifted off. Neither remembered whose eyes fell shut first. 

Nor could either one resist a quick trip to the deck before breakfast. Delos, their first destination - and one of the main reasons they had picked this cruise - loomed before them, growing closer with each leap their ship took through the waves. 

"It looks like a huge garbage pile," Odin said. 

Frigga nodded. It would look different soon enough. 

Breakfast was hearty and delicious, with thick, tangy yogurt and a variety of jams to stir in, and thick slices of olive bread to top with briny cheese and thinly sliced cold cuts. Just right to give them energy for tromping around on rough paths without being too heavy for the looming heat. 

And hot it was by the time they docked, not long after ten. Odin thought Frigga looked like the very image of refreshment in her long blue skirt, sleeveless linen top, and broad sun hat. He himself had aimed for the look of a rugged adventurer. Lots of pockets that he wasn't sure what to do with, but they looked good. 

The walk from the dock up to the museum, where they had planned to start, was so magical that by the time they reached the small building, it was difficult to go indoors. What had looked like rubbish from afar proved to be the rubble of building after building, many with their walls still partially intact. Walking up the ancient street they could look into the ruins and see the mosaic floors, filled with knots and animals and gods. What had been the grander homes were still marked by gleaming marble pillars at what was left of their doorways. They had started the path hand in hand, but quickly broke apart so they could each walk at one edge of the path, peering into each window they passed, dragging the other over to see something good. 

The museum proved worth it, though. The floors and walls were covered with even more impressive mosaics than they had yet seen, the cases filled with sculptures, jewelry, and a thousand things from daily life. There was even an oven removed from one of the ruins, still looking ready to fire up and bake more bread like what they had just eaten. Nor was the museum so large that it took more time than they were willing to spare. Soon enough they were back outside. 

The lion statues - the real ones - had been indoors, protected from the elements, but the replicas which lined the Avenue of the Lions captured the originals perfectly. 

"They've been guarding the sacred lake for over twenty-seven centuries," Frigga whispered. They had been whispering ever since they arrived, even though there was no one nearby to interrupt. Hushed tones came naturally to the air of rest that settled across the fallen stones. 

Odin nodded. "Should we start heading towards the mountain?" he asked. 

"We should," she agreed. It wasn't really that tall, under two hundred feet, but the sun was beating down, and the book said the trail was rough. 

The book proved to be right. At some parts of the path the stairs remained. To be fair, they were in excellent condition for stairs that were over twenty-five thousand years old, but... well, they were still stairs over twenty-five thousand years old. Bits of stone were broken off right where a foot might need to go, or there would be a crack that hinted at wobbliness, and sometimes the steps were simply gone, and the pebbles that hadn't seemed too bad on flat ground did feel terribly roll-y while trying to go upwards. 

Frigga was so busy fighting with the wind that was trying to steal her hat that she wasn't even aware they had taken their last few steps. Not until Odin's hand came down firmly on her head. "I'll hold it. You look," he ordered. 

She looked up and the island sprawled before them. "This was the Temple of Zeus," she said. "This is where he sat to watch Apollo and Artemis being born." 

"Amazing. And the water doesn't even look real. If you saw that in a movie you'd think it was fake," he answered. It was true. The Aegean danced before them, the sun glinting against its deep, rich blue, dappled by the lucent green of the shallows. 

They had taken long enough that there was a rush to get back to the ship, which turned into a flurry of half-running punctuated by sudden stops to stare and whisper, followed by slightly faster running to make up for the stops. They stumbled together laughing up the walkway with four minutes to spare. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Budget fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

They didn't really go out very much. They did some, of course - their parents had left enough money for food and necessities so that as long as they weren't stupid at the supermarket, there could be some going-out dates - but not a whole lot. It would have been different if Thor's internship was paid. As it was, though, his gas money came from savings from his campus job. That likely wouldn't cover the whole summer, so Loki would pick up when that ran out. Since Loki's summer job also had to cover his spending money once they got back to school, it seemed better to have the sort of fun that was free. 

A house with a huge bed, a hot tub, and hotter boyfriend meant that free fun was not a difficult thing to find. That was why neither of them much minded the fact that they were staying home on a Friday night even though the third Friday of the month was Loki's favorite night at a club downtown. ( _Much_ minded. To tell the truth, Loki would have loved to go, but he didn't say anything. The cover for under-21's was ridiculously high, and he didn't want to make Thor feel bad about it. He just needed something good to distract himself.) 

Loki had come home looking relaxed and _very_ good, and Thor barely tasted his dinner. From the playful glances Loki kept shooting him, he fully shared Thor's mood this particular evening. Which was what made it surprising when, as they finished eating, Loki hopped up to kiss Thor on the cheek and ask if he wouldn't mind taking care of the dishes as well as the leftovers tonight. "There's something I need to take care of upstairs," he explained. 

"This would be faster with both of us," Thor called, but Loki was already halfway up the flight. 

Thor shook his head, laughing to himself, as he rummaged around for containers for the leftovers. He could be annoyed, he supposed, but it seemed better to leave that until he knew what had taken Loki away. 

He found out when he went upstairs. He walked into Loki's bedroom and stopped cold. On the bed were some strips of cloth, and Loki stood there wearing just a pair of lusciously tight black jeans, holding a peacock feather like it was a weapon to rule the world. His eyes looked a little nervous, but his voice was calm and assured when he spoke. "Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to tie you up and do all sorts of things to you, and you're going to like it." 

Thor opened his mouth but no words came out. He wasn't entirely sure he remembered how to talk. 

Something in Loki's face flickered. "Is that okay?" He would have brought this up in advance, but Thor had tied him up before, after all, it wasn't like he had just pulled a bullwhip out of nowhere. He really hadn't expected Thor to look so shocked. 

Thor tried to move his mouth to answer. It still didn't work. He nodded. Vigorously. 

Oh. _Good._ Loki relaxed. "Well, what are you waiting for? Undress." 

Loki kept his jeans on as he watched Thor strip, prowling around him and running his cool fingers over each newly revealed bit of skin. Thor shivered at each touch. At last he was naked, standing patiently while Loki continued to circle, smirking. 

"Lie down," Loki said after a dizzying wait. 

Thor stretched out on his stomach. The pillows smelled like Loki's hair, full of dark secret spices. He buried his face, letting himself grow drunk on the scent. 

He had been afraid the feather would tickle. Of the many things that it did, _tickle_ wasn't one of them. Perhaps with a lighter hand it would have, but Loki wielded it with a skill that took Thor's breath away. It taunted and provoked and at last it teased Thor's lips open for him to take Loki's cock. That was the only break he got from the incessant stroking, and it scarcely counted as a break, not when his face was _right there_ and Loki was writhing above him, gasping his pleasure as Thor swallowed pulse after pulse of come. And Loki barely gave himself a moment to recover before he was back on his feet and teasing again. 

He twisted against the restraints as Loki ran the feather across his cock. When it moved to his thigh, it left a trail of slickness on his skin. If Thor tried to shift or close his eyes, the feather was instantly against his cheek, turning his attention back to Loki. And Loki looked glorious, his jeans hanging loosely from his hips, his hair - so carefully tamed when Thor had come upstairs - a sweaty mess after having used Thor's mouth, and though the restraints felt flimsy enough he could have broken them, the very fact of them being there at all was just so fucking hot. "Please," he whispered, and Loki smiled.

And pleased. 

  


After he got Thor untied, Loki slumped to the bed next to him and rested his head on his chest with a happy sigh. 

"You get to do dishes and leftovers on Monday," Thor said lazily as he smoothed Loki's hair. 

"But I just did all this work while all you had to do was lie there," Loki protested. 

"Mm-hmm. And on Monday you get to do more," Thor said. 

Loki considered it. "I agree, on the condition that next Friday, we switch, and you have to do all of this," he said. 

"Deal. Was this my Van Halen shirt?" he asked, glancing at the cast-off bonds. 

Loki didn't meet his eyes. "Umm... yeah. But didn't you just buy it to tease me?" he asked. 

"Yup. I'm actually impressed it lived as long as it did."

Loki shrugged. "I was waiting for you to forget to hide it."

Thor kissed him. There was a really cheap thrift shop two blocks from his office, just guaranteed to be full of shirts Loki would hate. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Frigga's half of the honeymoon, and back at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Google street view and Images is coming in amazingly handy recently. Yay, internet tourism!
> 
> One of my cats did something to my keyboard and the c key is really sticky now - I'm pretty sure I managed to type it everywhere it needs to be, but if you see where one's missing, please do let me know.
> 
> Enjoy!

After the Cylades (the ship had gone to Mykonos after Delos, and it was a lovely place to stroll and eat, though they were both very much aware that they were perhaps thirty years older than the island's target market), they went back to the mainland. They had a good view of old Nafplio as they sailed to the busy port, where a series of buses were waiting to shuttle them down the roads that had looked much bigger the night before on Google Maps. 

As they drew near Mycenae, the houses and office buildings gave way to gift stores and restaurants with signs in English. At least half of them had images of the death mask of Agamemnon somewhere on their sign or in the window. With a lurch, the bus turned down a small side road that took them into the countryside. A low, open iron fence lined the road, and behind it was scrub and dry olive trees. A hill loomed to their right and then with another lurch they parked. The parking lot (really just the dead end of the road) had a striking view of the countryside, with rolling hills fading away into the mist. 

Frigga was halfway to the fence to look out when Odin caught her arm. "Other way, dear," he said with a smile. She glanced over her shoulder. Other way, indeed. 

Opposite the overlook was an active archaeological dig, though no one was there just then. Pits scattered the ground, each one ringed by rope. But even that she gave no more than the briefest look, because behind it loomed the ruins of the citadel. They had been given their passes when they got on the bus, and she grabbed Odin's hand to drag him up the path. He followed happily. Though he wasn't the history buff that she was, it didn't take much to be excited. It's not every day he got to visit a bronze-age hill fort, he thought as she tugged on his hand. 

The path circled the city's stone wall until they reached a gate. _The_ gate, to be more precise. The lion gate, topped with a stela of two lionesses buttressing a pillar. 

"No one knows what it's supposed to mean. There's a lot of lions in Mycenaean artwork, and they seem to be associated with the city, but the pillar is a mystery," Frigga said. 

They stood until she had stared her fill, and then went through. The ruin before them had a sign indicating that it was the palace. Frigga stopped short and rummaged in her bag. Odin moved to the side, letting the stream of people pass them as she pulled out a ratty-looking book, opened it, and began to read in a low, clear voice. 

_Now at last fair fall the welcome hour_

_That sets me free, whene'er the thick night glow ___

_With beacon-fire of hope deferred no more. ___

_All hail! ___

_Fire of the night, that brings my spirit day, ___

_Shedding on Argos light, and dance, and song, ___

_Greetings to fortune, hail! ___

Her voice didn't waver, but a tear was running down her cheek when she finished.

"It's beautiful. What book is that?" Odin asked. 

"That's the beginning of _Agamemnon._ The watchman has been sitting, waiting for a signal fire to say the kings are returning from Troy, and he's been there for years, losing hope, and then one night he sees a fire." 

She put her book away and wiped her face. "Okay. I just wanted to read that," she said. 

"Of course," he said. 

Odin slipped his hand into hers and they continued down the path. 

***** 

Thor got home to find Loki waiting for him. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching tonight?" he asked, dropping his bag near the door. 

"There's a huge power outage downtown. There wasn't much I could do with my class without the grinders running, so we scheduled a makeup time and left. We've got mail," Loki said, holding up a stack of postcards. 

"Oooh!" Thor took them and flipped through, looking at the pictures. A huge marble-fronted building, a low stone archway with lions, a huge glittering dome, an island that looked like a huge classical trash heap, and the Golden Gate Bridge. "One of these things is not like the other..." Thor mumbled. 

"It's from Steve. Well, Steve and Bucky, but I think Bucky just signed it," Loki said. 

Thor flipped it over. Steve's handwriting looked kind of like Thor's grandpa's had, only not shaky. 

_Dear Loki and Thor,_

_Hope this finds you well. We came out for a weekend of apartment hunting and found something fast enough to do a little sightseeing. It's going to be hard to come back to the heat after being here for a few days - we actually had to buy jackets! We saw sea lions and wild parrots today, right in the city, which is crazy. Maybe you can come visit some time once we get settled in. Our place is big enough for a sleeper sofa._

_Love, Steve and Bucky_

Thor looked down at himself, his shirt soaked with sweat from the half-block walk from where he'd found to park. "I'd like to visit," he said. 

Loki nodded. "Sea lions are cool," he agreed. 

"Does the order of these others matter?" Thor asked. 

"Doesn't seem like it," Loki said. 

The trash heap turned out to be the first place their parents had gone, apparently something really interesting if you saw it close enough that it didn't look like a trash heap. "Your dad must have picked out this card," Thor said, holding it up. 

Loki started to argue but stopped himself. "Yeah, you're probably right," he said. 

The huge gold dome was the Hagia Sofia. This card was filled with Frigga's tiniest handwriting as she tried to cram in everything they'd seen in Istanbul onto a single card. "You wouldn't believe the height of the ceiling, it was the tallest building in Europe for centuries, people came from other countries to study the construction," she said of it. "And there's an underground cistern built with whatever they could scrounge, so there are huge Medusa heads holding up the ceiling, and there are musicians and a café and it's very romantic," she wrote, with 'very' underlined three times, like either of them really wanted to know that. 

The marble building was the remains of the library at Ephesus. "There was a tunnel to the building across the street which had ladies of the evening," Odin wrote, probably blushing despite the euphemism. 

The last one, with the lions, was another from Frigga. "This is the lion gate at Mycenae next to the palace. That'll mean something to Loki," she wrote. 

Thor looked up. "The lion gate?" 

Loki shook his head. "The palace. Aeschylus. Oresteia. It's where the watchman sits." 

"Oh," Thor said. 

"Now you know how I feel when you start talking about corn," Loki said. 


	10. Playtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki went digging through his old toys in the garage, wondering if anything might still be fun. He found something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Thor was sitting at the kitchen table, halfway through a sandwich, when Loki popped his head in, just long enough to throw one Nerf gun at him and shoot him with another before running off. Thor took off in pursuit, down the new hallway and through the open patio doors to the backyard. He was nearly around the back of the garage when Loki jumped out from behind a tree, shot him again, and ran back in the house, laughing delightedly. 

Thor caught up with him halfway up the staircase and tackled him, holding Loki close with his right arm and letting his left catch their weight so Loki wouldn’t be squished on the wooden steps. He twisted in Thor’s hold, trying pointlessly to free himself. Thor pinned him down with one broad hand across his back and reached down, rapidly opening his own jeans and shoving them out of the way. Loki struggled against Thor's strong hands as he was flipped over to lie with the edges of the stairs pressed into his back. 

“Did you really think you had a chance against me? Did you think you could win this?” he growled into Loki’s ear as he knelt, straddling Loki's chest. 

“Actually, I was rather counting on not,” Loki answered, wiggling deliciously. 

"Good," Thor said. "But you're still so dressed. There's a prize for you if you get yourself off before I'm done." 

"That doesn't give me much motivation to do well up here," Loki pointed out, unzipping his pants and reaching in. 

"Except that there's a different prize if you get _me_ off first. So the question is, which one do you think you want more?" 

"Asshole," Loki grinned, lunging up to catch Thor's cock between his lips. 

"You love me," Thor retorted, letting Loki suck him in deeper. 

"Mmm," Loki agreed. 

Thor was- cautiously - rougher than usual. It seemed like that was what Loki had been aiming for, he thought, and his hands were free (free enough, anyway) that he could have stopped or slowed Thor whenever he wanted. It turned out, though, that he didn't want. He definitely didn't want. So much so that when he made a spluttering noise and Thor started to pull back, he was met by Loki's free hand pulling him back down. The fact that Loki came first was another good clue. 

This was way deeper than he was used to, not all the way but close enough to feel wet lips and warm tongue as he never had before, and his climax hit suddenly enough he didn't have a chance to draw away before he was tensing and spilling right down Loki's throat. 

He did move away when he was done, the last few shudders still wracking him. He collapsed on the step next to Loki and rolled his head to look at him. Loki's face was red and wet, tears smeared everywhere. 

"Oh, baby, I'm-" Thor began. 

"Don't you dare say sorry," Loki warned him. "Don't even think it." 

"If you insist. It felt amazing," Thor said, wrapping a relaxed arm across his waist. 

"So what's my prize?" Loki asked. 

Thor hadn't actually thought that far ahead. Loki had been feeling playful, and Thor wanted to play too. And it really had seemed like a good thing to say at the time, right before sliding between Loki's lips, a good way to make sure he'd have the added pleasure of Loki's muffled moans pouring into his cock. 

"I'm still working on that," he admitted. 

The prize ended up taking place in the hot tub. Thor, unlike Loki, swallowed well enough that they didn't have to worry about leaving a mess in the water, and he took full advantage. 

"What would my prize have been if you finished first?" Loki asked afterwards as he half-floated, draped across Thor's lap. Thor leaned down and whispered in his ear with a wicked grin. "Oh. Do you want to play Nerf again tomorrow?" he asked. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, it's some fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

"You should take the bus to work on Friday," Thor said. 

"Hmm?" Loki asked, looking up from the paper. 

"You should take the bus to work on Friday. I have a surprise planned, and I need to pick you up." 

Loki wasn't particularly enamored with the bus, and he'd likely be taking it the rest of the summer once their parents got back, but Thor had this look in his eye that Loki couldn't help liking. "Okay," he said. 

Thor grinned at him. "You're going to love this," he said. 

When Thor got to work on Friday morning, he found Larry in his office, surrounded by stacks of paper that towered perilously. "Hi, Larry. I was wondering if it was okay if I take my fifteens with my lunch? I have an errand I need to run." 

"Hi, Thor. Yeah, that sounds fine. We're not supposed to make a habit of it, but once in a while it's perfectly reasonable." 

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." 

"Sure thing." Larry waved nonchalantly, as though to say _no big deal_ , but he hit a stack of papers, which _was_ a big deal. Thor leapt forwards and caught them as they teetered. "Thanks. If that had fallen, my organization would have gone to shit." Thor looked at the piles and smiled politely. "Yeah, I know," Larry said. "But they really are in order." 

Thor went to the supermarket at lunch, filling his cart with a bottle of sparkling apple juice and stuff to make cold subs before wandering through the snack aisle, trying to find something that wouldn't be too noisy to eat. He finally settled on soft chocolate cookies. The checkout line was longer than he had expected, and he barely got to put the groceries into the staff fridge and inhale his own lunch before he had to get back to work. 

When he got home, he made the sandwiches and packed a hamper, and had just enough time to read online a few minutes before he had to leave. Loki was waiting out in front of the store when Thor pulled up. He couldn't quite lean far enough to kiss Thor's cheek without Thor leaning back, so he squeezed his leg. "So where are we going?" he asked. 

"That's still a surprise. You'll find out when we get there," Thor said, smiling. 

"Okay." Loki heaved a put-upon sigh, but when Thor glanced over, he was smiling too. 

Thor drove them to the old part of the city, bumping down narrow brick roads shaded by graceful old elms until he found a parking space. 

Loki noticed the basket in the backseat when he climbed out. "A picnic? German Park?" he guessed. 

"Yes, but that's not all. I told you, you'll find out when we get there." 

"Okay." 

The cool of evening was beginning to fall, and they linked hands as they walked. They were several blocks from the park, and the closer they got, the fuller the sidewalks grew, full of people headed the same way. 

"There's a lot of gay couples," Thor commented. 

"Oh. Yeah, Beuley in general is pretty good now, but Germantown is the gay neighborhood from way back. Dad said this area got to be half abandoned, like back in the seventies, and a lot of the old houses were falling apart, so all the people who weren't really welcome elsewhere starting moving here and fixing them up. Now it's one of the nicest parts of the city." 

"It is nice," Thor agreed. 

They were a block away from the park when Loki saw the sign. "Pericles? I love Pericles!" he said. 

"I know. I saw your Shakespeare book, remember?" Thor said. "I was so worried you'd find out before we came. I've been hiding the arts section of the newspaper ever since I saw it listed." 

"Really? Whoops," Loki said. 

"What?" 

"I've called the newspaper three times to complain." 

"Oh. Um, let's just not say anything?" 

"Works for me." 

They were early enough to get a good spot near the stage. "How long has this been here?" Loki asked. 

"Which of us is from here?" Thor asked, poking him in the ribs. 

A volunteer overheard them. "The stage was built last summer, after my theater group offered to do free Shakespeare in the Park if they'd put up a place for us. This is our first play," she said. 

"How'd you pick Pericles? It's not very popular," Loki asked. 

She laughed. "Everyone was determined that we do their favorite first, and so the director said if we couldn't reach a consensus then we were going to do Pericles, and here we are. Actors." 

"You're not an actor?" said Thor. 

"Oho, no. I do lights, which means there isn't much for me to do until the third act when it gets dark, so I just sort of wander until then." 

"Well, it's really cool to have this. Thanks," Loki said. 

"Thank us after it goes well," she said with a grin, before wandering off to welcome other groups of people. 

Loki spread out the blanket and Thor set out the picnic on top of it. He had brought paper plates and plastic cups and cloth napkins, "to stay classy," he explained. 

The play started when they were halfway through their sandwiches. It had its share of difficulties, technical and otherwise, but the evening was pleasant and there were a lot of lightning bugs and the play was enjoyable, if not brilliant. When they finished eating, Loki laid down with his head in Thor's lap, and Thor fed him cookies and played with his hair. 

"You've never read it, have you? Are you following it okay?" Loki asked over intermission. 

"I haven't, but I read the synopsis online. I'm not getting every word, but I know what's going on," Thor said. 

"Yeah, I miss some things if I'm not reading along, too. This is fun, though. I'm glad you brought me." 

"And I'm glad you like it. I have the rest of their summer schedule, if you want to come to the rest of the plays." 

"I'd like that." 

Loki was quiet on the drive home, but he looked happy, so Thor didn't say anything. 

By the time they pulled into the driveway, Loki knew just the thing to surprise Thor in return. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki can plan surprise dates, too. If they're a little more self-interested than the ones Thor comes up with, well... he's Loki. And Thor loves him how he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Of course, Loki had come up with the perfect plan - gotten his heart set on it, in fact - before he actually did anything like making sure that it was open on Sundays. He didn't get a moment to himself when they got home Friday after the play to check, either. Not that he wanted one, not with Thor's lips and hands so hot and everywhere, but it did rather leave him in suspense until the next morning. 

Thor had stumbled downstairs to start breakfast after Loki swore he'd make it tomorrow, and Loki rolled over and grabbed his phone. The signal kept dropping, but he finally got the page to load and found what he wanted: open Sundays noon to six. 

"Why are you smiling like that?" Thor asked suspiciously the moment Loki entered the kitchen. 

"I had a good time last night," Loki said. 

"Uh-huh. You know this is me you're talking to, right?" 

Loki tried to look as bland as possible. "Of course." 

***** 

"Why are you smiling like that?" Miranda asked the moment Loki got to work. 

"Thor took me on a surprise date last night, and I have one planned for tomorrow." 

"Naked dates?" she asked. 

"No, actually. Clothed. I do like him as a person, you know." 

She shook her head. "I don't think I'd have taken the time to find out." 

"He is nice to look at," Loki agreed. "But that's not all." 

***** 

"You're still smiling like that," Thor said over breakfast the next day (which Loki did, in fact, make. Just because Thor had to poke him in the arm for ten minutes before he got out of bed first didn't mean he didn't get the credit). 

"Only because you're watching for it. I can't help it now," Loki told him. 

Thor actually seemed to buy it. Right through the morning, right through lunch. When Loki picked up his keys and said, "let's go do something," though, the game was up. 

"What something might that be?" Thor asked. 

Loki shrugged. "Let's just see what we find." 

Thor looked at him wryly. Loki smiled and shrugged again. 

They parked in an area of the city Thor had never been, but the buildings were well enough known that he recognized it all the same. "Harbrook? What are we doing here?" he asked. 

"You'll see," Loki promised. 

They strolled idly across the campus. Lake State wasn't bad, but Harbrook had a level of fanciness that screamed _major endowments_. 

"Did you ever think about going here?" Thor asked. "It's so convenient." 

"Not really. Dad's big on stages of independence, where 'I have to take care of myself while I still have a safety net.'" Loki imitated Odin's voice perfectly, and Thor chuckled, picturing Odin saying it. 

"I guess that makes sense." 

The gray stone building had 'SMITHTON EARTH SCIENCES' carved into the high central archway. Loki led a smirking Thor inside and down a long corridor. 

"Dad brought me to this museum when I was little. I hadn't thought of it in years, until Friday." 

The guard at the door nodded as they walked in. Thor glanced around briefly before making a beeline to the case on the left. "Look at those dolomites!" he said. 

"I'm looking," Loki said, peering into the case. 

Thor moved slowly down the long row of displays. "And look at all the ways gypsum can form," Thor said, shaking his head in awe. "It's just amazing." 

"Wonderful," Loki agreed. He was really mostly interested in the room at the end, but since there was only one other group of people in the museum, and they were making their way slowly towards the exit, he didn't feel a particular need to rush. 

They did eventually get there, and the family had left. Perfect. "Let's look in here," Loki suggested casually, leading Thor through a doorway blocked by hanging strips of fabric. 

It took a second or two of blinking to adjust to the black light before Thor gasped. "A fluorite room!" he said. 

"A fluorite room that we're alone in," Loki corrected. 

Thor paused. "You really brought me to a geology museum to make out?" he asked. 

"Yes," Loki said. 

"You are the _best_ boyfriend," Thor said, grinning. 

"Yeah? How best?" 

"This best," Thor growled, walking Loki back until he was pinned to the wall. His hands crept inside Loki's shirt as he kissed him. Loki purred as he wrapped his arms around Thor's back and slid one foot forward to press his thigh against Thor. 

"You know there's only so much we can do in here, baby. The door doesn't have a lock," Thor told him. 

"And Robert Frost said that writing free verse is like playing tennis without a net." 

"You hate Robert Frost," Thor said. 

"He was right about that, though. It's fun to see what can be done when there are limitations." 

Thor was about to answer, but stopped himself just in time. However long they had, he didn't want to waste it in a conversation they could have once they got to the car. Instead he brought his lips back to Loki's as he opened Loki's jeans and reached inside, wrapping his hand around his thickening cock and giving it a gentle squeeze. It stiffened at his touch. Loki's quiet sound of longing echoed into Thor's mouth. He grinned and rubbed over the head, teasing at it until Loki was panting softly and Thor's thumb was slick. He moved away from Loki's increasing desperate kisses and leaned forwards to bring his lips to Loki's ear. 

"My match, I think. Fifty-love?" he whispered. 

Loki stared at him, his jaw loose, as Thor walked calmly to one of the exhibit cases and began reading the caption. When he recovered, he zipped his jeans up (with no little difficulty) and joined him. 

"I don't remember your jeans being so tight when we left the house, babe. That looks uncomfortable," Thor said casually. 

Loki was in the midst of working his hand down the back of Thor's jeans - fair play being what it is, after all - when they heard the doorknob. They jumped, and Loki pulled away just in time. 

The guard stood at the door, blinking at them suspiciously. "This isn't supposed to be closed during open hours," he told them. 

"Oh. That's my fault. It's just... being around all these crystals is a really spiritual experience for me, and I didn't want to get interrupted," Loki said. It was all Thor could do not to turn and stare. Loki didn't lie around him a whole lot, but when he did, his skill was magnificent. 

"Hmm. You weren't fooling around or anything back here, were you?" asked the guard, who still looked suspicious. 

"Eww, no. He's my little brother," Thor said. 

"Oh. Well, then, how about you boys just come back out to the main room, then." 

"Okay," they said, following him meekly. As long as they held their arms strategically and tried to take turns blocking each other, the lumps in their jeans didn't seem _too_ obvious. They hoped. 

Thor took even longer looking at the display cases on the other side of the room. The guard slowly lost interest in them after enough of Thor's comments about the amazingness of sulfur seemed to convince him that they were actually there for the geology. They did finally finish looking at everything. 

"Bye, thank you!" Loki said as they left. 

"Yeah, thanks," Thor echoed. 

"You boys stay out of trouble, now," the guard told them. 

"Yes, sir," they chimed. 

They managed to keep their faces straight until the building door closed behind them. 

"Oh my God. You, a crystal person. I could have died," Thor said. 

"Yeah? You said _eww_ about making out with me," Loki pointed out. 

"It's just as true as you being spiritual about crystals." 

Loki shrugged. "I guess that's fair. You still owe me, though." 

"I do?" 

"That wasn't really all the _best_ you were going to show me, was it?" 

"I haven't even scratched the surface. Which way is the car?" 

Loki pointed. 

Thor took his hand. "Hurry up," he said. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor has an idea. Smart, smart Thor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is partly inspired by something I read during a bout of insomnia, and all I can remember is that there was a photography theme, and I think it was connected to some sort of challenge. (That's my dismal attempt at proper credit- if you know the story I'm thinking of, please do leave a comment so I can fix it!)
> 
> Enjoy!

"Will you film us together sometime?" Thor asked. 

"Together like how?" Loki asked, though he had a pretty good feeling he already knew. They lay twisted together as they talked, melted into a happy pile of exhausted limbs. Thor hadn't quite managed to roll off his stomach just yet, and Loki's hand lazily caressed his perfect ass. Much as Loki always liked it, he had particularly good feelings about it just now. 

"In bed. You fucking me," Thor said. 

Yes indeed. Loki had been right. "You want to see it? How you look?" he asked, teasing. As though Thor might say no. "How you look when I open you?" he continued, one finger sliding easily into Thor's slack, wet entrance. He added another and spread them gently, staying just short of _too much_ for Thor's over-sensitized nerves. "How you look when I slide in, and your ring is stretched so tight it turns white?" he continued, running his thumb right along it. 

"I do," Thor told him. 

"I can do that. I think there's a tripod in the attic. I'll look for it later," Loki promised. 

"It'll be fun," Thor said. 

"Oh, yes. It will." 

***** 

Thor ended up helping him look. As hot as it was outside, the attic was even hotter, and even though it only took ten minutes, both of them were dripping and red by the time they climbed the narrow ladder back down. 

"Shower?" Loki asked. 

Thor nodded and began stripping as he walked towards the bathroom, leaving a trail of sweaty clothes in his wake. Loki put the tripod in his room and followed. 

The cool water was delicious as it poured down over them, and they took turns standing under it taking huge noisy gulps until they no longer felt like heat exhaustion was quite such an eminent danger. Their attention naturally segued from the pursuit of personal comfort to the attraction of the person before them. 

"Do you want to film it now?" Loki asked between kisses. 

"How long will it take to set up?" Thor asked. 

Loki shrugged. "Five min- _ah!_ " he said, breaking off with a gasp as Thor took hold of his cock. 

"I assume that means five minutes, in English? Let's do it," Thor said. 

It was a little awkward trying to get out of the shower still kissing, but they managed somehow, and they toweled each other off with excited grins. Thor closed the bathroom door behind them because the vent fan had started rattling a few days earlier and he didn't want the noise ruining their video. Even though that would mean having to make another. 

Loki produced a small digital camera seemingly out of nowhere and attached it quickly. "Okay, get in bed and I'll aim it," he said. 

Thor settled to his hands and knees, figuring that would give the best view. Loki moved the tripod around a few times and fiddled with the camera. 

"Can you hold yourself open?" Loki asked. 

Thor lowered himself to his chest and reached back, pulling at his cheeks until he could feel cool air between them. 

"Perfect. Just a sec," Loki said, making a few more angle adjustments before he was satisfied. 

"Ready?" Thor asked. 

"I just have to turn it on whenever we want," Loki said. 

"Let's do this," Thor said. 

Loki reached over and started it. He picked up the bottle of lube that lived conveniently at the bedside and slicked his fingers. If he leaned a little, he could just see the display screen, and he watched as his first finger slid inside, more slow and teasing in his movement than Thor really needed. It looked great, though, as did the thin circles of whiteness around the tips of Thor's fingers, where he dug into his firm cheeks harder than he really needed to. 

Loki went so slowly, and Thor knew it was because he was trying to make a good film, giving Thor what he wanted, but by the third finger that slipped inside him - long, long after he was ready, and achingly slow - he couldn't help himself. It was only the knowledge that he needed to stay in the small frame that kept him from grinding his hips back to plead for more. He tossed his head against his pillow as he begged, and Loki's low laughter washed over him. The sound gave him a shiver of lust. He imagined how he would feel, later, watching this. He would listen to Loki's laugh and feel this exact moment all over again. The thought made him want _more_ more than ever. 

Thor was behaving far more patiently than Loki would have, Loki thought. He had certainly earned his reward. There was a chance he had been stroking his cock a little more than usual, making extra sure it was at its full size before it entered the frame, but that was only human, he thought. He slicked it quickly and brought it to Thor's entrance. 

Thor gasped as he felt Loki's cock press against him. It held still, burning with promise, and Thor closed his eyes, imagining how it would look. It would look like a moment of pure potential. Loki was right to draw it out. 

When he at last pushed in, Loki went as slowly as he could, letting the camera savor every second. He loved the sight of this, when his cock first began to disappear inside, and he was eager to share it with Thor. The transformation was such a thing of beauty, the way Thor's entrance had gone from a tight furl at the start to this white-taut stretch as Loki at last filled him. And even with all Loki had done to make this good for the camera, the best part was still hidden, where Thor's passage clenched at him as though wanting to keep him forever. 

Thor moaned when Loki at last filled him. He didn't want to make too much noise, didn't want to drown out the sounds of a slick cock as it thrust within, or the sounds of skin on skin as their bodies strived together. It would have been impossible to hold himself back at this, though. It was too purely _good_ to stay silent. Loki held it a moment before he began to draw back, so slow again, until the thick head was pulled back through his ring. He couldn't help moaning again when Loki pushed back in, after a perfectly timed wait. Each time Loki thrust in, he went a little faster. The fifth time he pulled back, he didn't pull out. That was when he began to fuck rather than tease, it seemed, his hands tightening on Thor's hips to hold him still as Loki drove into him, the air rich with the myriad sounds of sex. 

When Thor reached for his cock, Loki reached beneath him and slapped his hand away. He had other plans for Thor's climax, and they did not involve Thor bringing it about. He thrust harder, each drive in faster and more demanding, and Thor's attempts to stay quiet failed completely, his keening half-muffled by the pillow. 

Loki's climax took him suddenly, the first burst of heat spilling as far inside Thor as he could go. He managed to pull out before the second, holding close and letting it splatter across Thor's entrance, before sliding back in. He thrust, sharp and frantic, until the pounding waves of pleasure ebbed. He pulled out and let the last few weak pulses of spend drip down onto Thor's skin. It didn't gape, exactly, not like in porn, but it was relaxed, loosely open. Loki reached out and with a single elegant finger he began to carefully push his come inside, making sweep after sweep until all that remained on Thor's skin was a shine of wetness. 

Loki let the camera linger on the sight before he reached over with an exhausted hand to turn it off. 

And Thor still hadn't come. 

"Loki," he began, but Loki stopped him. 

"I know. There's something I want to do," he said. "Come on." 

He unscrewed the camera from the tripod and left the room, Thor standing up awkwardly to follow. His cock was screaming for attention and he felt more than a little drippy, and he felt much more interested in getting off than he did in traipsing about the house. But Loki was already popping into the bathroom and grabbing some towels. He smiled brightly at Thor as they met on the landing. 

"Come on," Loki said again, heading downstairs. 

The new family room had a new tv, one with a ton of different inputs, and as Loki threw the towels onto the couch and knelt by the set, Thor didn't feel so impatient anymore. Well, no, he did. But he also felt eager now for what was to come, rather than annoyed. He sat on two of the towels - this sofa did not shampoo so easily as the one in their dorm room - and set the third aside for later. 

Loki turned the tv on, and a moment later their video started to play. He settled down next to Thor and took his cock in hand, going every bit as slowly as he was in the video. Dragging it out, making it last. Thor watched the video like he were a drowning man who had just seen an island in the distance: he couldn't blink, couldn't look away for a second. His breath hitched when he heard Loki's laughter, right when the third finger slid in, there was his own moan, there was the slightly awkward shift when Loki had leaned forwards to knock his hand away. 

Loki finally sped up his hand to match the pace on the screen, right where Thor recognized as the point where they were beginning to approach the end. To feel and to witness the same urgency was intoxicating, and he was curling over himself, his fingers digging into the arm of the sofa, trying desperately to hold off his climax until he could witness Loki's. Loki seemed to understand what he was doing. 

"All right, baby, now," Loki said at last, and Thor came just as he saw the first jet of Loki's come spill over his own body. He fought with himself to keep his eyes open, not wanting to miss the tiniest moment of the matching climax that reeled out before him. He bucked helplessly into Loki's hand as he panted his way through his pleasure. He loved it when they came together; Loki's orgasms never failed to spur on his own to greater heights and intensity. Watching it on the screen had a similar power, deliciously spiced by novelty. 

Thor finally collapsed back, exhausted. "That was incredible," he said. 

Loki smiled. He hadn't taken his own eyes off Thor's face for a single second. "Yeah, it was." 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Thor catches a cold, there's only one thing he really wants. 
> 
> Loki gives it to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

When Loki left to teach his class on Saturday, Thor was complaining about his nose being itchy. "I must have smelled something it didn't like," he said. 

When Loki got home, Thor was in bed with a box of tissues and a thick layer of vick's on his chest. "I'b sig," he said unhappily. 

"Aww, that sucks," Loki said sympathetically. He sank down onto the edge of the bed and rubbed Thor's arm. "Do you want anything? Tea? Soup? I can go to the store if you want." 

"Tea _and_ soob? Spicy soob?" Thor said. 

"Okay. I'll go shopping after I make you tea. I'll get some nyquil, too, so you can sleep," Loki offered. 

"Thags," Thor said with an unhappy sniffle. 

"You just get better. I'll take care of you," Loki said. He went downstairs and started the tea. He couldn't help being disappointed; their parents' flight got in at six on Sunday evening, and they'd both been looking forward to one last long and very filthy hurrah of freedom. 

By the time Loki returned upstairs with the steaming mug leaving a light trail of mint in the air, Thor had wiggled up enough to lean against the headboard. 

"Thags," he said again, reaching out for it. He made a slightly pained sound as he swallowed his first sip, and Loki added sore throat spray to his mental shopping list. 

Loki smoothed his hair. "Spicy soup and some medicine. Anything else?" 

Thor shook his head. "Will you snuggle me lader?" 

"As soon as your soup is hot." 

All the so-called spicy canned soups looked gross, so Loki got a few cans of chicken noodle, figuring they could add cayenne. Tomato soup seemed like another good possibility, so that went into the cart as well. A few others looked promising, as well. 

Loki hadn't realized there were so many kinds of nyquil - the campus bookstore just carried the red one - so he got some of each rather than calling and making Thor talk. And Thor would want some daytime medicine, as well. Loki realized suddenly that he didn't know Thor's preference in cough drops - did he like the herbal ones? Cherry? Honey-lemon? 

Thor lay in bed, listening to Loki struggle in the door with what had to be at least three heavy bags. Shitty as he felt, he couldn't help smiling as he pictured Loki in the medicine aisle. He hurriedly tidied his hair as he heard Loki's light step on the stairs. 

"Hi, baby. I hoped you'd be asleep when I got back," Loki said. 

When Thor started to talk, it felt like a knife in his throat. He held up his book. 

"You've been reading?" 

Thor nodded. 

"Is chicken noodle okay?" 

Thor nodded again. 

"Okay, it'll be quick." 

Loki got it heating up while he unpacked the rest of the bags. Perhaps the cashier's amusement wasn't _entirely_ unreasonable, he decided. It hadn't seemed like that much stuff when it was in a cart. He repacked all the medicines into one bag, put a box of tissues on top, and took it upstairs with a glass of water. 

"I didn't know what kind of stuff to get, so I thought you could just pick," he said, dumping the bag onto the bed. Thor sat up and picked through until he'd found which cough syrup he wanted (red) cough drops (cherry), and throat spray (cherry again). Loki brought him a glass of water and went downstairs to bring the food up. 

By the time he returned, Thor's mouth was so red it looked like he had personally recreated the massacre of the innocents with nothing but his teeth. 

"I went to high school with a kid who was allergic to red dye. I bet he'd have an attack just looking at you," Loki said. 

Thor grinned at him. That made it look even worse. "Soob?" he asked. 

"Yeah, here you go." Loki handed him a bowl and sat on the side of the bed to eat his own. 

"That was good," Thor said when he gave back the empty bowl. "My throat feels better, too." 

"Good. You still want snuggles, or do you just want to go to sleep?" 

"I want snuggles." 

It took some rearranging, but they finally settled together with Loki's laptop on the mattress by the wall, Thor curled up on his side facing it, and Loki wrapped around him. Thor was radiating enough heat that it was hard to believe he could want the blanket, but he had it pulled up tight around his neck. Loki leaned over and started something brainless on Netflix. Thor reached out of the covers just long enough to pull Loki's arm firmly around him, and he gave a contented sigh as he relaxed into the embrace. By the time it started to autoplay the second episode, Thor's breathing no longer sounded pained. By the third, it was peaceful. When the fourth started, Loki slowly withdrew his arm and hit the power button. 

Thor was no better in the morning. He was an easy patient - he occasionally asked for medicine or soup, and the rest of the time he just wanted Loki to hold him or stroke his hair. They spent the day in bed, watching movies, Loki's arm tight around him. When they grew tired of laying on their left sides, they traded, Thor taking Loki's half of the bed and Loki climbing over him to slide down the wall into Thor's fever-heated sheets. They weren't sweaty, at least. Even with all the coughing and nose-blowing, it wasn't too gross as long as their skin stayed dry. 

***** 

"It'll be good to see the boys," Odin said as they made their way to baggage claim. 

"It will. And to go to bed," Frigga agreed. Going west was easier than east, but it had been a very long day all the same. "Oh! There's Loki," she said, pointing. 

Loki glanced up and waved as they rode the escalator down. 

"Do you see Thor?" Odin asked. 

"No, I don't," she said, her eyes skimming the crowd. 

It took them another minute to wade through all the people to get to Loki - he had nabbed a perfect spot near the start of the carousel, and hadn't moved to greet them - and they hugged him hello. 

"Thor's waiting in the car," he said, before they had a chance to ask. 

Frigga frowned slight. "Did you have a fight?" she asked cautiously. 

Loki's laugh was abrupt. "Only about him coming at all," he said. Her frown deepened. "You haven't turned on your phone yet, huh?" he guessed. 

"No, should I?" 

"He's sick. I wanted him to stay at home, he wanted to come in. He's waiting in the car as a compromise. That's all, no real fight." 

"Well, thank you for trying. How long has he been sick? He can be a needy patient." 

"Since yesterday. And it was fine." 

"You have my thanks, all the same," she said. 

He shrugged awkwardly, not quite sure how to respond. Fortunately, the alarm signaling the arrival of the first load of luggage went off, saving him from further conversation as they watched the belt carrying out bag after bag. 

When they got to the car, Thor had moved to the back seat and was twisted awkwardly with his legs pressed against the window so his upper half could lie down. He started to get up when he saw them coming, but his mom waved at him to stay still. She opened the door by his head and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I'll hug you when we get home. You rest," she said. 

"Hi, mom," Thor rasped. 

Odin offered to drive, so that Thor and Loki could sit together. They were all tired, and the trip home was quiet. 

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to get pizza and hit the sack. Maybe we could have a family dinner tomorrow and catch up?" Odin asked. 

Thor started to answer, but he only got halfway through the first word before he coughed up what felt very much like a lung, and disappeared to the bathroom. Close enough to bedtime to take the sleepy syrup, he decided. 

"Call that a yes," Frigga said. "As long as it has black olives I'm happy." 

The pizza arrived quickly - Odin had called and promised an obscenely large tip if they had it in less than half an hour - and their parents headed to bed. 

"Are you tired? You should go to bed, too," Loki told Thor. 

"Will you come snuggle me?" Thor asked. 

"All night," Loki promised. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's nothing like some good wholesome trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Thor stayed home from work on Monday, spending it bundled up in a pile of blankets on the sofa, watching movies with his mom and Loki. By Tuesday he was feeling enough better to go in, though he was still tired. 

"Here, take my car. Then you can come straight home rather than having to wait for Loki to finish with his class," Frigga said, holding out her keys. 

By Thursday, he was back to normal, with Loki taking the bus to work and Thor picking him up after he was done. Loki was kind of nervous that Frigga would start offering him rides to work on the days Thor had his car, but she didn't. He did like her, very much, but the idea of being in a car alone with someone that he still didn't really know all that well was a little overwhelming. When he said bye, though, she always seemed to be just in the middle of something. 

When she heard his key turn in the lock, Frigga reached forward and flipped off the monitor with a relieved sigh. She had been through the local job listings on three different sites and was halfway through the fourth, even though they all pretty much duplicated each other. It gave her a good way to look busy, though. Loki had a lot of changes to adjust to. Getting a stepmother -at twenty, no less- was no small thing. It seemed best to let him get used to her in small doses, rather than trapped in a car for twenty minutes with nothing to do but talk. 

At lunchtime on Friday, Odin called. "I have to run by the post office on my way home. It's right next to Safeway, if you want me to stop in," he told her. 

"I won't argue," she said, and emailed him a list. 

Dinner ready by the time Thor and Loki got home. 

"Can you boys get the dishes tonight?" she asked as they finished their (much larger than their parents') bowls of ice cream. 

"I thought that was Dad's job?" Loki said. 

"Not when Dad did the shopping," Odin told his grinning son. 

Frigga was settling comfortably against Odin's side as they flipped through the stations, looking for something to watch, when Thor and Loki came in. Thor sank down next to his mom and Loki took one of the armchairs. She looked at them. 

"It's a Friday night. Aren't you two going out to do something fun?" she asked. 

Thor shrugged. "Everything's too expensive. We're going to free Shakespeare tomorrow, but we thought we'd just watch tv tonight." 

"You're staying in tonight? All night?" Odin said. 

"It's free," Loki said. 

Frigga got up and left the room, leaving all three men looking after her. She came back with her purse in one hand and some bills in the other. "Here. This is forty dollars. Go have fun," she said. 

"Mom-" Thor started to protest. 

"Thanks!" Loki said, grabbing the money and thundering up the half-flight of stairs before she could change her mind. 

"Um, thank you," Thor said, following more slowly. Loki was already in the foyer, tugging his shoes on. 

"You don't think they want us to leave so that-" 

"Shut up, Thor," Loki said. 

"But I mean, the honeymoon was a whole month. Don't you think they'd-" 

"Shut _up_ , Thor," Loki hissed. 

"Sorry. What do you want to do?" Thor asked. 

Loki grinned and reached into the hall closet for Thor's football jacket. "We should bring this along. It might get chilly tonight," he said innocently. 

Thor knew exactly what that meant, and he could feel his cock stirring at the thought. He hadn't entirely believed it when Loki said to bring the jacket for the summer. He did not mind being proven wrong. 

"Dad, can I take your car? I'm low on gas," Loki yelled. 

"Yes, keys are on the table. Have fun. Bye. Go," Odin called back. 

They determinedly ignored everything but the _yes_. "I just refilled your tank," Thor said, frowning in confusion. 

"Safety first," Loki said with a wink. 

"You want to go watch a movie?" Thor asked when they got in the car. It was way too light out to go to the football field just yet, and that rather seemed like it ought to be the end of their night out, anyway. 

"Sure." They pulled out their phones and looked through the listings, finding a showing of Mad Max in half an hour. They'd planned to wait for it to hit the second-run theater on the east end of town, but now they didn't have any reason to put it off. Anyway, there wouldn't be 3D if they waited. 

The movie was long and relentless, and by the end they felt exhilarated. It had indeed cooled off enough that the air had a pleasant nip to it. Loki drove through the quiet streets with the windows up so he could blast his music the way he liked when his adrenaline was high. Thor's hand worked its way up his thigh. By the time they parked on a dark and leafy side street, he had been caressing Loki's cock through his jeans for four blocks. 

"Okay, let's go. Don't forget your jacket," Loki said. 

They walked to the end of the block and halfway down the next before Loki turned into a thick stand of trees. It was nearly pitch-dark despite the bright moon, and they went slowly, holding hands, until suddenly they popped out at the back of the high school. Loki tugged on Thor's hand, leading him around the building to the football field. 

The moon seemed very bright now. Very, _very_ bright. Like, spotlight-bright. 

Loki started to lead Thor towards the bleachers, glancing back when Thor didn't move. "Come on, under the bleachers, remember?" 

Thor shook his head. "That's what you said at school. When we were here before, _I_ said on the forty-yard-line." 

Loki arched an eyebrow. "Right in the middle of the field?" 

"The fifty is in the middle. Forty's pretty close, though." Thor grinned. "Of course, we can go under the bleachers if you're scared..." 

"Of course I'm not. The line it is," Loki said as he straightened his back and marched forwards. This time Thor let himself be pulled along. 

The moment Loki reached the white stripe of paint he whirled and wrapped his arms around Thor's neck, kissing him hungrily. Thor growled low in his throat as he laced his fingers behind Loki's back, meeting him kiss for kiss. Their tongues grappled as Loki fit one foot between Thor's and rubbed his thigh against the rapidly growing bulge. 

Time froze as Loki reached down to open Thor's jeans and sank to his knees. He shoved Thor's clothes out of the way just far enough to free his cock, wrapping his hand firmly around it. He looked up, his eyes burning into Thor's as he licked his open lips. Thor stared down at him, his own chest heaving as he drank in the lust written on Loki's face. Loki stared up at him, panting lightly through his parted lips before he whispered, "Go team," and took Thor in. 

Thor groaned and tangled his fingers in Loki's hair, tight enough to be affectionate, gentle enough to not force his movements. He was doing just fine on his own, alternately sliding forwards, his lips tight and cheeks hollowed with suction, and then backing off, suckling at the head while doing unspeakable things with his tongue. Unspeakable things like _that, _making Thor's fingers tighten helplessly. "Oh, fuck, Loki," he gasped.__

Loki had never been _bad_ at this - he had always gone down far too happily for it to be anything but enjoyable - but he was getting _good_. The moonlight was bright on his face and Thor looked down at him, his eyes still fixed on Thor's and his shiny lips stretched obscenely, and he looked gorgeous and filthy and _fuck_ Thor loved him. "I'm close, baby," he warned. 

Loki's response was a rich purr, deep in his throat, that vibrated right into Thor's cock. Thor slumped forward, bracing himself on Loki's shoulder to stay upright as Loki took him higher, higher, and "Loki, I'm-" he said, and then he was, and Loki took it all. 

Thor got maybe eight seconds recovery, tops, before a bright light swept over them. He blinked at it, his mind still fogged with pleasure. Fortunately, Loki's was not. 

"Shit!" he said, laughing. He sprung to his feet and tore the jacket from Thor's shoulders before grabbing his hand and pulling. "Cops, run!" 

Thor took off with him, one hand in Loki's, the other holding his jeans up. They ran, laughing together, around the building, into the thicket. They stopped just long enough for Thor to zip his pants before weaving their way through the trees, back to the car. 

They were just merging onto a major road when the police car drove right past them. "They didn't even look at us," Thor said. 

"Dad's car looks like a dad car," Loki answered with a grin. 

"Safety," Thor agreed. "You gotta be more careful with my jacket, though, I really like it." 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pull it so hard, I just didn't want them reading it, _Nordenfalk sixty-nine._ " 

"Fifty-nine," Thor said automatically. 

"Not my fault they messed up numbering you," Loki answered. 

Thor snorted. "Where are we going now?" 

"I thought you could return the favor at the building I burned down." 

Loki glanced over to find Thor's head in his hands. "I still can't believe you burned down a building," he said through his fingers. 

"They were going to tear it down anyway. And it's in the middle of some empty lots, so no one could get hurt. I just changed the timetable a little," Loki said. It seemed reasonable enough. 

"Are you sure it's a good idea? They say the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. Maybe there's a stakeout." 

"I'm hardly a criminal, Thor," Loki said reproachfully. "It was just youthful high spirits." 

"Oh, that's okay then. No one ever gets in trouble for those." 

Loki beamed. "Exactly. So what do you say?" 

Thor paused. "There's more than one way to run if we have to make another getaway?" 

"We can stay in the car. No running required. We'll just find a nice dark spot to park between the street lights. You love blowing me in the car." 

"I've never blown you in the car." 

"You'll love it, though." 

Loki looked hopeful. Thor let him squirm a minute because it was just way too much fun not to. "You're right. I will." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone knows how to turn off autocorrect in the online version of MS Word, please do let me know. It has terrible grammar and some days I feel like I spend more time fixing it than I do on writing.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorting out misunderstandings is easier with all the information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

While Loki and Thor were narrowly avoiding one sort of trouble, their parents were worrying about a different sort. Not right away, of course. But when Odin woke at one with a knot of anxiety twisting in his stomach, he opened his eyes to find that Frigga was already awake, her eyes shining as she stared back at him. 

"You're thinking, too?" she asked. 

"I can't help it," he admitted. "Why would they be so short of money? They've both got jobs, they don't have any big expenses. You don't think-" Odin cut himself off. 

Frigga frowned. "I wouldn't, no. That just doesn't seem like them, and there aren't any other warning signs you're supposed to watch for. It can't be." 

"No, you're right. It can't." 

Both fell silent, but neither fell asleep. 

Frigga sat up and turned on the light. "It's just that it seems like college is getting more stressful every year. I certainly never worried so much as these two seem to do, back when I was a student. Do you think they were experimenting and got in over their heads?" 

Odin sighed. "I don't know what to think," he admitted. "We'll have a talk after breakfast tomorrow?" 

"We'd better. Flip for who gets to be the good cop?" 

Odin nodded and grabbed a coin from the nightstand. It was a penny, old and so dull that it barely shone as it spun through the air. It landed tails. 

"Sorry," Frigga said. "I'll be the bad one next time." 

Odin smiled wryly. "I'd rather there not be a next time." 

"Yeah. Me too. And this is probably nothing, I'm sure there's a good reason." 

"You're right. I'll feel better once we know what it is, though." 

***** 

Thor shook Loki out of a blissful rest. He'd had a truly delightful night last night - he had been right, Thor _had_ liked blowing him in the car, very much indeed, and that had only been the icing on the cake - and the whole thing had sent him into some of the best sleep he'd had in ages. "What?" he asked irritably. 

"Mom said to get you up for family breakfast. They look like they're planning a talk." 

"Oh, fuck," Loki sighed. "Do you think someone recognized us?" 

"That's all I can think of." 

"Fuck," Loki said again, and threw back the blankets. He pulled on his pajamas, noting sadly that Thor looked too worried to even enjoy the sight of naked Loki, and headed downstairs. Thor trudged after him. 

"Good morning!" Frigga said, a little too brightly. 

"Hi," Loki said. 

"I have a coffee cake just about to come out of the oven, and the sausages are almost done." 

He gave her a weak smile. "That sounds good." 

"It sounds wonderful!" Odin said. His cheerfulness was way too forced. 

"Thank you. Can you do the sausages while I cut the cake?" Frigga asked him. 

They huddled together by the stove while Loki and Thor looked at each other. Loki reached out and hooked his foot around Thor's ankle. That was a little better. 

As they ate, conversation turned - briefly - to that night's play. "Measure for Measure," Thor said. 

"Oh, that's a good one," Odin said. 

"Look, can we get this over with?" Loki asked. "Whatever _this_ even is." 

Odin and Frigga glanced at each other, nervous. "We were just concerned, last night, about you both seeming to be always short of money," Odin started. 

"Whatever it is, we're not mad at you, but it's getting so hard to be a young person, and if you need help..." Frigga added. 

Thor and Loki looked at each other, confused. 

Loki, being of a more suspicious nature, caught on first. "You think we're junkies?" he demanded. "You seriously think we're junkies." 

Frigga answered. "We don't know what to think. You've both got jobs, but-" 

"You're just jumping to the worst conclusion possible," Thor said heatedly. 

"It's our job to be concerned when you start behaving differently," Odin told him. 

Loki bit his answer. " _No._ Just because Thor's internship doesn't pay him and we're trying to make sure there's enough for his gas to get there, and still have something left when we got back to school-" 

"Wait, what?" Frigga interrupted. 

"Gas is expensive and Loki's car doesn't get very good mileage. Just because I'm working for free doesn't mean I can get there for free, and then you start attacking us over it," Thor said. He wasn't quite as angry as Loki, but getting this sprung on them when they were just trying to be smart about things really sucked. 

"Your internship is unpaid?" Odin asked. 

"Yeah, that's kind of the standard these days," Thor said. 

Frigga and Odin sighed in unison. "We didn't know that," Odin explained. 

"Oh," said Loki, still glaring. 

"Do you see why we were worried?" Frigga said gently. 

Thor and Loki looked at each other. Thor's expression had softened. Loki was still scowling, but he nodded. 

"Yeah," Thor said. "I do. It still sucks that you even thought it, though." 

"Mm-hmm," Loki agreed. 

She smiled sadly. "It's our job, even when we don't like it." 

"And I don't like that you're not getting paid for your work," Odin interjected. 

Thor shrugged. "That's just sort of how it is. And I am learning a lot, it's not like I'm not getting anything out of it." 

"It might be how it is, but I don't have to like it. How about..." He fell silent a moment. "Frigga, could I talk to you in the hall a moment?" 

She slipped out of her chair and followed him out of the kitchen. Loki and Thor looked at each other. "I can't believe they thought we were junkies. The last time I took anything it was by accident, and it was your dad's brownies," Thor whispered. 

"I know," Loki said. "Me too." 

They grinned at each other as their parents came back in. 

"We're going to match Loki's checks each week and give that much to Thor," Odin said. 

Thor blinked. "Oh," he said. 

"The whole system is unfair, and we can't fix that, but at least we can see that you're treated fairly. And the two of you shouldn't miss out on enjoying your summer just because you're working hard on your education," Frigga said. 

Loki looked at Thor, who was still staring at his mother. "Okay," Loki said. 

"Can you give me a total up to now?" Odin asked. "I'll write the check today." 

"Yeah, I can go get it." Loki slipped out of his chair and tugged on Thor's arm. "Come on," he said. 

Odin spoke as they were halfway out the door. "We're really proud of you both," he said. 

"Thanks," Thor said. Loki shot his dad an awkward smile. 

"Can you believe those two kids not even telling us? Loki especially. He's not shy about asking for things even when he knows perfectly well I'm going to say no. What in the world got in their heads, not to ask for a little cash to go out sometimes?" Odin said, shaking his head. 

Frigga looked at him fondly. "You know exactly why it never occurred to them," she said. 

He smiled back at her. "You're right. I do." 

_They're a team._


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Playtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short after how long I made you wait for it! I did try to fill it out, but it read like crappy filler. But at least you'll have some idea of what to look forward to...

Thor had seen that much money before, but never with his name attached to it. (Well, not except on the letters and forms about his scholarship, but that was different - that was what he didn't have to pay, paperwork money that he never saw.) But Odin handed over the check without a second thought, and when Thor stared a minute before taking it, Loki yoinked it out of his father's hand (he said yoink and everything) and plunked it in Thor's.

"We can stop at the atm on the way to the play tonight," Loki said.

"Okay," Thor said.

Since going to the play wasn't a surprise this time, they made their sandwiches together. Thor always came up with the most brilliant filling combinations, and Loki was a little better at getting everything to fit into the rolls. "Together we are unstoppable," Thor concluded as they surveyed their loaded basket.

The bank wasn't that far, but it was the wrong direction, which gave them a good excuse to leave the house sooner than they really needed. Their parents still looked kind of guilty and embarrassed and it was getting hard to keep a straight face around them.

The bank was at the end of a long row of office buildings, and after a quick stop at the atm, Loki drove around the back.

"What are we doing here?" Thor asked with a grin.

Loki parked and tugging off his seatbelt. "This," he said, climbing into Thor's lap. Anyone else doing it would have been painfully awkward. Loki managed to make it halfway graceful, and Thor slid his hands up Loki's thighs as Loki straddled him and leaned in for a kiss. "I miss being alone with you, and being able to do stuff like this wherever we want."

"Did you get spoiled, having the house to ourselves?" Thor teased.

"Mmm, maybe a little," Loki murmured against his lips.

Thor slid his cheek along Loki's until he could whisper into Loki's ear. "Spoiled boys need spankings, you know," he told him.

Loki groaned. "I think you're probably right."

They had about fifteen minutes to kiss before making the trip across town to the park. It was a wrench to stop, but Loki did want to see the play, and they were both getting hungry. As it was, they arrived barely five minutes before it started, just enough time to spread out the blanket and unpack the basket. They were in the very back, which gave them some leeway to whisper to each other. And other things.

"Feed me some grapes?" Loki asked as he rested his head in Thor's lap.

"Can you even see the play from down there?" Thor asked.

"No, but I can hear it, and I want you to feed me some grapes."

"So spoiled," Thor told him, smoothing back his hair. "You know what that means."

"Peel them," Loki demanded.

Thor rolled his eyes. "I don't have any nails," he said, holding his hands up to show.

Loki held up a knife.

Thor tried to suppress his laugh, but he still got a few glares from people around them. "I'll peel you _one_ grape, but it means you get double the spanking," he warned.

Loki opened his mouth and stared at Thor.

"Oh, you are so getting it," Thor said as he took the knife.

 

Loki didn't get it. They got home to find the house fragrant with fresh coffee and their parents in the living room, just starting the second hour of a six-hour _Twilight Zone_ marathon.

"Do you think we'd be too loud?" Thor asked as they tumbled into the bedroom.

"I don't know. Maybe," Loki answered. "Raincheck?"

"Yeah, maybe we better. They're going out on Thursday."

"How appropriate."

"It is," Thor said, his voice dropping as he stepped closer to speak into Loki's ear. One hand reached down to curl around a pert cheek. "Because I'm going to enjoy every second of turning this pretty ass all red. And when I'm done, this smirk you've got is going to be turned into a big... open... _O_."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some Thursday spanking. You know how it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

"If we have to wait until Thursday for that, how ever shall we keep ourselves busy?" 

Thor met Loki's wide, innocent eyes. "We've had a long day. We should probably go to sleep," he answered. 

Loki stared a moment before breaking into a low chuckle. "Good one. You actually had me there for a minute. Come on, take this stuff off," he said, tugging at Thor's clothes. "I want to blow you." 

This wasn't going to be easy. Loki's laugh alone was enough to make Thor's blood run hot; his words and his wants never failed to make Thor's cock stir in anticipation. He ruthlessly ignored it. "So impatient. As your older brother, it's my job to teach you how to behave." 

"What?" Loki looked up. "You're serious, aren't you?" 

"Mmm, I am. Just think how much you're going to like it when you get what you want." 

"I'd like it just fine if I got what I wanted right now. More than fine. It would be perfect, I already know it." 

"And it'll be even more perfect on Thursday. No touching yourself, either." 

Loki spluttered at that. It was ridiculous. It was infuriating. It was... it was really fucking hot. "I still need to wash properly," he said. 

"Of course. You can wash. But don't enjoy it." 

***** 

Thor devoted the next two days to making it worse. Every second they were alone, his hands were all over Loki's ass, his low voice like sex and velvet in his ear as he told him, over and over, "Mine." 

Loki's retaliation was carefully calculated. 

He waited until Tuesday evening, long enough that he knew this had to be getting to Thor as badly as it was to him. He had been sprawled out in the living room reading when Thor got home from work. He followed as Thor went upstairs to change into his lazing clothes. The moment the door was closed, as he had expected, Thor was reaching for him, sliding his hands down Loki's back and growling possession into his ear. 

Loki twisted to give Thor an innocent kiss on his cheek. If his hip just happened to brush against Thor's cock as he did so, well, Thor was the one who had stood so close to him. Loki could hardly be held responsible for that. 

Thor went to bed first, leaving the light on as he waited for Loki to join him. Loki strolled in, sucking on a cherry popsicle. No popsicle ever tasted half as good as Loki's moans suggested this was. Thor couldn't help watching his lips tighten around it, sliding it in all the way, sucking and twisting. When it was gone, his lips were as red as when the two of them kissed for hours and his breath smelled like cherry innocence and it took Thor a very long time to fall asleep. 

Wednesday was even worse. Loki had to work until the store closed, and Thor sat in the coffeeshop across the street, reading and waiting for him. It should have been easier, and it probably would have been if only the store hadn't been completely dead. As it was, though, the entire last hour there wasn't a single customer, not even a window shopper, and Loki spent it sending Thor a series of increasingly filthy texts that had him fighting not to wiggle in his seat as he stared longingly across the street. 

Thor held out. He ignored and pretended, right up to the time they were changing for bed and Loki dragged his tongue down Thor's spine, slow and hot, lingering at each vertebra as though it were the key to heaven. He finished on his knees, breath hot against Thor's skin right at the top of his cleft. "Well, goodnight," he said. 

Loki smiled to himself once the lights were out. _That,_ he was sure, meant he was _really_ going to get it. He glanced at the clock. Twenty-two hours. Eight of them asleep. He could make it. 

Probably. 

***** 

Frigga and Odin were just cleaning up their dinner plates when Thor got home. "Sorry we have to eat and run, the pre-performance talk starts at seven thirty," Odin said. 

"Loki waited to eat with you, though," added Frigga. 

"Oh, that was nice of him. I'll change clothes and then we'll get something." 

The pasta water was halfway to boiling when their parents left with a trail of pleasantries and an excited Odin already humming some of his favorite movements. 

The second the door locked behind them, Thor turned off the heat. "Wait here five minutes, then you can come upstairs," he growled. 

Loki could feel his pulse starting to race, just from the sound of Thor's voice. 

Thor went into the room given to him, which they had pretty much turned into shared storage as Thor always slept in Loki's room. This seemed like something he wanted to do in here, though. In a place that was _his_. 

Five minutes hadn't seemed so long when he said it, but it felt like it, as he sat there on the side of the bed, overthinking how to do this. 

"Okay. Here I am," Loki said, standing before Thor. 

Thor tried not to jump. He hadn't heard Loki on the stairs. "Come here, little brother. You need to learn your lesson," Thor said, gesturing him closer. Loki swallowed hard and stepped forwards until their feet were touching. Thor reached up and pulled off his shirt and opened his jeans, tugging them down with his underwear until they were around Loki's knees, holding them together. Loki's cock was already thick and red and it was agony to ignore it.

Thor remained fully clothed as he tugged Loki across his lap with his chest resting on the mattress. Loki shifted slightly to unpin his cock and press it between Thor's broad thighs. Even fully dressed, Loki could still feel his heat and it made him ache with want. And then - _fuck_ \- Thor pressed one hand between his shoulder blades, forcing him to stay positioned, and it sent a wave of dizzying lust shaking through him. He was scarcely even aware of Thor speaking, telling him that he was about to start. All he could feel was that firm hand holding him still. 

The first loud _crack_ took him by surprise and his body jerked against the hand that pinned him. The second slap was not a surprise. He bucked up against Thor's hand all the same. Thor was taking it easy at first, he could tell. The intensity grew slowly, giving Loki plenty of chance to say when it was hard enough, or when it was too much. Loki barely noticed that, all his focus on the warm pressure on his back, the way Thor rested his spanking hand across the backs of Loki's thighs between strikes. He could feel his cock twitching against Thor's leg, dripping into his jeans. 

Loki was shaken from his daze when he got a slap that was definitely _too much,_ making him yelp. 

"Was that too hard?" Thor asked. 

Loki nodded, panting slightly. "A little." 

"Okay. I'll be careful." 

Thor hadn't even thought to count, focusing instead on the way Loki's pale ass slowly tinted under his attention, and how the firm globes shook and rippled each time his hand came down. He didn't have to spank very hard for either of those to happen, and it was clear that Loki was enjoying himself once he backed off a little, so he simply carried on until white had given way to beautiful, burning red. Loki made a faint sound of loss when he was released. 

"Shhh, baby. I have more plans for you. Good little brothers deserve their rewards," Thor whispered. He pulled Loki's pants out of the way before he maneuvered Loki fully into the bed, his chest flat to the mattress and his ass high in the air. Thor stripped quickly and knelt behind him and opened him, taking in the sight. His entrance was so tight, fluttering erratically under Thor's attention. He pressed the tip of his finger to it and began to draw tiny circles, teasing and taunting and making him wiggle so much that Thor had to hold his hips still with one firm hand. At that he made another little mewl and Thor's control was _shot._

Loki had no idea how long any of this was taking, but it felt like forever, getting teased and pinned down and not getting what he most wanted. But then there was Thor's tongue, hot and so wet as it pressed right inside him. He shifted his knees further apart, trying desperately to keep himself upright as Thor licked into him again and again. He'd barely gotten himself balanced before Thor's hand was on his cock, stroking at the same maddening pace he was keeping with his tongue, and Loki was only dimly aware that Thor's breath on his skin was growing fast and erratic until Thor was shaking and groaning and still trying to lick him but barely able to control his movements. The hand on Loki's cock somehow kept going, though, and it only took two more sharp pulls before he followed, coming with a ragged gasp. 

"Come on." Thor tugged Loki to his feet and half-carried him across the landing to where a clean and dry bed conveniently awaited them in Loki's room. They collapsed together, catching their breath. 

"Did you like that? All of it?" Thor asked at last. "I want to know if there was anything you didn't." 

Loki hummed a moment in thought. "The spanking itself, I mostly just liked knowing that you liked it. But I don't have anything against it, if you want to do it again. And I really liked it when you pinned me down. Like, really _really_ liked it. I'm sorry I couldn't take the spanking very hard. I can probably take more next time." 

"It's okay. This was enough for me, actually. I mostly liked watching. Well, that and the way you got so turned on." 

Loki sat up and climbed over Thor, stretched out to kneel on either side of his broad thighs. "Then I think we have a very good deal," he said. 

Thor expected him to lean in for a kiss, but he didn't. When he leaned forwards, it was to rest his head gently on Thor's shoulder. Thor pressed his lips into the soft mess of curls and smiled at Loki's quiet sound of happiness. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor's drive home sucks. 
> 
> Loki gets a pang of nostalgia and makes things better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in the middle of end-of-the-fiscal-year hell, and felt like some fluff. I hope you do too.

The traffic jam would have to happen on the same day that the A/C went out. Of course it would. Thor put down all the windows, but the weak breezes that managed to get inside did almost nothing to make up for the fact that he was sitting in a dark and unmoving car under a parched sky late in the summer. He had some water in the car, but it was long gone by the time the road was cleared and he was able to start moving again. By the time he got home, his head hurt as much from frustration as from the heat. 

A very long and very cool shower helped, as did the dinner that followed. Frigga had made cold soba for dinner, figuring rightly that he wouldn't want anything hot. He still felt kind of out of sorts, though. Loki could see it on his face. 

"I'll do your share of the dishes tonight, if you want to go lie down and zone out," he offered. 

"Thanks. I'll do your share tomorrow," Thor said. 

It was like old times, Odin doing the hand dishes while Loki loaded the dishwasher. Sure, Odin hummed more cheerily than he used to - Frigga had kissed his cheek before retreating to the living room, and that never failed to make him smile - and Loki didn't mind doing his share so much when it made Thor feel better. It was still pretty much the same, though. Loki got a shock of déjà vu as he recognized the tune Odin was humming. Despite the weather, it snapped him back to the winter before last. The last night of winter break Odin had hummed the same thing. The very next day, he had gone back to Lake State and he and Thor had become more than friends. 

He knew how to make Thor smile. 

When he went upstairs, Thor was, just like he'd suggested, lying down and zoning out. He had put on some music - Souvlaki, the quiet dreaminess just the thing for calming down - and he was on his back, still dressed in the shorts and tee shirt, age-worn into buttery softness, that he'd put on after his shower. 

Thor opened his eyes as Loki climbed onto the bed and straddled him. He leaned forwards and rubbed their noses together. "Hi," Loki said. 

"Hi." Thor's hands came up to clasp gently around Loki's waist. 

His eyes were so close that Loki couldn't focus on them, could see only a dizzying wash of blue. Loki tilted his head slightly and met Thor's lips. They kissed so, so lightly, a hundred butterfly kisses before Loki parted his lips to meet the tip of Thor's tongue with his own. 

He tilted a little further, letting their tongues glide deeper, sliding together. Loki felt a sudden surge of want and he moaned quietly into Thor's mouth. Thor ran his hands back to cup around Loki's ass. His fingertips kneaded gently into the firm muscles, making Loki moan again. 

Thor still smelled like his body wash, the grapefruit scent bright and crisp. The fragrance always seemed a little too sharp for Thor, more suited to Loki. _Exactly,_ Thor had said when Loki pointed it out. His body felt huge and warm and _solid_ beneath Loki's own, like lying on top of a living sculpture. 

Loki had gotten hard as they kissed. He knew Thor could feel it, pressing against his stomach, but when Loki leaned back to catch his breath, Thor made no move to reach for it. His hands stayed where they were, gone still, holding gently. He understood what Loki had started, and he liked it. Loki opened his eyes to find Thor gazing up at him. His face looked peaceful now. 

"Come back down here. Kiss me some more," Thor said. 


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last weekend of the summer. Different people have different ideas about how to best spend it.
> 
> Or, Loki Has To Talk To People.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the latter part of this written for quite a while, but couldn't decide how I wanted to start it until I accidentally began reading a POPTART!THOR fic, and voila.

Loki and Thor were stretched out on the couch watching The Hunger, because Loki wanted to watch the beginning bit with Bauhaus, and once they were sitting it seemed easier to keep going than it was to pick something else out. They were right in the middle of the attic scene when Thor's phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket as Loki paused the movie. 

"Hi, mom," he said. 

There was a pause, and then he moved it away from his mouth. "Mom's stopping at the store, she wants to know what we want for our last weekend of freedom." 

"That gnocchi she makes?" 

"Loki asked for gnocchi. Can we have pop tarts for breakfast tomorrow?" Loki looked at him like he was crazy. "Thanks, mom. Love you." He hung up. 

"Thor, your mom is an _amazing_ cook. Why the hell would you ask for pop tarts when we're about to be stuck with dorm food?" 

Thor grinned at him. "You'll see." 

Loki saw the next morning, when he woke up to a smell that was... he didn't know, exactly, but he knew he wanted it. He staggered downstairs to find Thor sitting at the table, eating frantically. 

"Good timing. There's one left from the first batch," Frigga said, handing him a plate. On it was something golden and flakey and still steaming a little bit. 

He bit into it, careful not to burn his mouth. His eyes flared wide. 

"Told you," Thor said around his full mouth. "Mom's pop tarts are legendary." 

Frigga was somehow managing to eat calmly, taking single bites of her own as she put together the next batch. They went into the oven and she joined them at the table, taking small sips from her wide mug as they talked about their weekend plans. 

It took longer for good smells to wander downstairs than it did for them to go up, and Odin wasn't lured into the kitchen until Loki was finishing his fifth - and last, he was sad to admit - tart. 

"It smells delicious in here," he said, kissing Frigga on the cheek as she straightened from pulling another sheet from the oven. He poured himself a cup of coffee and refilled hers as she filled plates for both of them. 

Loki leaned back from the table with a groan. "It tastes even better than it smells," he told his father, before turning to Frigga. "Thank you, they were wonderful." He elbowed Thor. "X-box?" 

Thor nodded and rose, putting their plates in the dishwasher before following Loki into the living room. Random shouting made its way into the kitchen as Frigga and Odin sat together, eating in companionable silence. 

Yelling gave way to laughter and what could best be described as the sound of a herd of elephants as Thor came tearing up the half-flight of stairs to the hall and out the front door, Loki peeling after him. 

They smiled in the direction of the boys' noise. "I like who my son is when he's with yours," Frigga said meditatively. 

Odin raised his eyebrows. "I like Thor all the time," he said. 

"Yes, I do too. But I like Loki's influence. Sometimes Thor forgets to have fun. Loki reminds him." A brief wave of something like worry crossed Odin's face. "What?" she asked. 

He shook his head. "Loki... he has his ups and downs. He's had a long up, but I don't know if it can last forever. And in his downs, I still love him just as much, but it can be hard. Exhausting. I hope Thor is up for it." 

Frigga put her hand over his and sat in silence long enough that he didn't think she was going to answer. "They put the wells in the summer before Laufey was killed," she said. "I can't say the money wasn't a godsend. People were able to pay off their mortgages, or at least get down to a single one. Getting out of debt, or buying better food for their families. It took about a year before the problems started. And Thor has always been a fixer. If he sees a problem he feels like he needs to solve it. So when our whole community was hit with the problems, Thor was still reeling from losing his father, and it gave him something to hold onto, something that he was determined to fix. I understand your fears, but... Thor carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Setting all that down to just worry about one person for a while might be a relief." 

***** 

The video game that segued into a chasing game was the last waking moment of personal time all weekend. Odin and Frigga and Thor all wanted _family time_ and Loki might have dodged at least some of it, if only it weren't for the look on Thor's face. Instead, because it made Thor happy, he sucked it up like a champ. This latter fact he had no qualms about pointing out to Thor. 

"I sucked it up like a champ," Loki said when they were finally alone. It was their last night in Beuley, and he'd have liked to do something like find somewhere inappropriate to make out - the playground where Odin used to take him would have been fun, maybe they could have kissed while hanging from the monkey bars - but instead the four of them went out to dinner and then spent hours sitting around the kitchen table playing board games. 

"You did, and I'm so proud of you," Thor said, hugging him from behind. "I'll suck _you_ up like a champ as your reward, if you want." 

That was how, in the span of barely ten minutes, Loki went from losing all his money on Park Place to leaning against the wall with Thor kneeling before him, head bobbing, the room full of exquisitely wet noises. 

The night was improving quickly. 

It got even better when Thor reached up with his free hand and twined his fingers with Loki's. 

***** 

Waking up early the next morning was not so great. Thor had a football meeting on campus at three, which meant they had to leave by ten at the latest, if they had any hope of unloading the car first. What with last-minute packing, shower and breakfast, and loading up the car, the alarm went off at seven thirty. Loki tried to remember the last time he was awake at seven thirty. He was pretty sure it was sometime that he simply hadn't gotten to bed yet. 

Frigga was nice enough to cook breakfast as long as they agreed to load the dishwasher afterwards. The first pancakes came out of the skillet just as the last of their bags went into the trunk. 

"Well, are you all ready for another year?" Odin asked, taking a big bite. 

"Junior year was my favorite," Frigga added. 

Thor and Loki smiled at each other. "Yeah. We are," they said. 

Almost before they knew it, it was time to go. 

Four hours to Lake State. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, another summer draws to a close. I have the first chapter of their junior year ready to post as soon as I come up with a title that's at least marginally less painful than what I've already thought of. Thanks so much for reading and for all the kind feedback, it really is most appreciated. I hope you stick around for the next chapter of their lives.


End file.
